11/30 (HOL): Matriarch/Hollywood Derby (Gr. I's)

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

I disagree with you here Rolo. Gio Ponti's dam was by Alydar and his best win by figure and grading was at 10f. Albahri has plenty of stamina on the bottom as well and he had just won consecutive races at 1 5/16th and had never raced at less than 1 3/8 befoe today. Midships dam was by saddlers wells and he had raced his last 7 races at 10f or longer.

Gio Ponti is also a half to the opportunistic stayer Fisher Pond, whose black type is at 11f or further on both surfaces I think.

Regardless, Tale of the Cat seems to produce sprinter/miler horses for the most part, which was the basis for suggesting he has distance limitations. Under ideal race conditions, some of his horses can go 9f or more (Tale of Ekati, Lion Heart, Gio Ponti). However, maybe his string of losses at short odds is more a product of him being overrated than a stamina issue.

I mentioned Albahri because his sire was best at a flat mile. I realized he had won over much further (which is why I used "even" in the statement). My point was, basically, aside from the Mizzen Mast colts and the winner, the field on the whole wasn't particularly bred for 10f (at least on the top side).

[blackthroatedwind]

Gio Ponti's most impressive win was the Hill Prince....at a mile.