Weekend Stakes Beyers

[The Indomitable DrugS]

It took some real artistry to get Zenyatta's Beyer to 100.

They ran 3 route races at HP on Saturday. They were races 6, 7, and 9. The Norfolk, Lady's Secret, and Goodwood

Norfolk

* Jaycito broke his maiden in the Norfolk despite an impossible five wide trip on both turns - and was given an 87 Beyer



That figure represents a 9 point new career top - impressive considering he had a trip from hell.

* Fellow maiden Riveting Reason also had to overcome a wide trip and finish 3rd at odds of 36/1 ...



Despite the tough trip - he got an 82 Beyer - which represents an 11 point career top for him, and an improvement of 14 points over his last start.

* The horse who benefited with a ground saving trip was hapless 71/1 longshot 4th place finisher Clearance Clearance



he surged to a 20 point new career top - running an 80 despite having to eyeball stellar sprinter J P's Gusto for a long way on the early lead.


* And finally - J P Gusto was 2nd as the heavy favorite in the Norfolk despite racing very rank and struggling to settle - yet his Beyer was only 1 point lower than it was in his 4.5 length Grade 1 romping Del Mar Futurity win last time out.

I played against J P's Gusto in this race because of his pedigree. His sire Successful Appeal was an extremely good sprinter who once ran a 119 Beyer at 6fs. Twice competed in the BC Sprint. The dam of J P's Gusto - Call Her Magic - once ran a 107 Beyer going 5 furlongs on the turf, while winning a small stake by a huge margin at Delaware Park. She had major distance limitations - but was a freaky female turf sprinter.

Obviously ... The Norfolk figure seems a little too high .. but, remember, the whole objective seems to be to get Zenyatta to a 100.


Lady's Secret

* Zenyatta wore down Switch late to win. She was given a 100 Beyer.

Zenyatta was given a 95 Beyer for her Clement Hirsch win last time out - but only after a variant was split with the days other route race - which was run 30 minutes earlier. Because of the very slow pace that benefited Dance to My Tune and Rinterval - and hurt Zenyatta - the final time figure should have been in the mid to high 80's last time. Dance to My Tune has been beaten twice since, including getting dusted by 9 lengths as the 3/5 favorite at Fairplex in a 50K stake. Rinterval, who has lost 20 of her last 21 races against a lot of crummy competion, has yet to run back.

* 3yo filly Switch was 2nd and was given a 99 Beyer.



*pace setter Moon De French (who had failed to hit the board in every prior attempt in non restricted stakes races) and Satan's Quick Chick (first off of a 9 month layoff - and was 6th at Presque Isle Downs in her most recent attempt at a synthetic route) dead heated for 3rd place .. both earning Grade 1 black type. Emmy Darling - who was claimed last time out - rounded out the field.


Goodwood

* I can't recall the last time a horse was off the board as a 3/5 favorite in a Grade 1 stakes race - and still ran a new lifetime top Beyer in the same race. Well, that's what happed with soundly beaten 4th place finisher Twirling Candy .. his 99 Beyer in defeat represents a new career top for him.

* Richard's Kid won this race with a 105 Beyer .... 9 points higher than the 96 he ran in winning the Pacific Classic last time out.

Did Richard's Kid really improve 5 lengths over his Pac Classic repeat win? Keep in mind, 5 lengths on synthetic is HUGE .. it's typically the difference between first and sixth in a lot of races.

* Crown of Thorns ran an awesome race second off of the year layoff - and stretching out from 7f to 9f. That's a brutal stretch out on synthetic - even a little more so than turf in my opinion. Anyway - he overcame a lot of pressure applied by Twirling Candy - and ran a great race to get a 104.

* 3rd place finish Dakota Phone got a 100 Beyer. He was also 3rd to Richard's Kid in the Pacific Classic last time out - there he ran a 94 Beyer. His Beyer spiked 6 points. Coming into the Goodwood - he had run figures of 94, 95, 95, 91, 89, 86 in his last six starts.


To me, it looks like everyones figures were inflated by about 5 points just to get Zenyatta to a 100.