5/31-6/1 (WO): Nassau S. (Gr. II); Plate Trial

[the_fat_man]

I think there's enough evidence to be able to draw some conclusions about Harlem Rocker.

It's unfortunate that the headon replay on CALRACING only runs to midway through the backstretch and we're not able to see the stretch run but I think we can proceed nonetheless.

Now, I don't really pay much attention to what the connections have to say about a horse's preference for a particular course. It's really easy enough to see for myself whether a horse liked the course or not. For example, Proud Spell, at KEE, DID NOT like the poly. It's EVIDENT. Her footwork is off and her stride is terrible. I Lost My Choo and Equitable also didn't appreciate the footing in their last races at KEE, as well. Poor footwork, in both cases.

I didn't see poor footwork in the case of HR. He's on the correct lead during the different sections of the race. His footwork was significantly better than it was in the Withers. Moreover, he drafts nicely on the backstretch and makes a nice move to 3rd on the turn. He just doesn't finish with these horses.

He got worked over pretty good in the stretch of the Withers and also didn't finish as straight as one would want.

Time will tell about this horse but he really needs to SHOW me that he can run a little bit before I overestimate his ability or try to explain why he didn't perform.