Horse Racing questions and answers

[Madison]

Turfway R5 #12 8-1 Askari. OFF 517. Just came out of my stable. I had him flagged as "can't wait for next". Needless to say he owes me money.

Ran his first 3 in the Pletcher barn. First 2 on the turf at MON, then an off the turf at SAR. Slow, but looks like he can run forever. Shows up today GELDED since last and new barn Christopher Davis??

Anyone has a moment to look would appreciate a comment.

Best,

obviously a serious setback to be off that long and a mid level track makes sense to ease the level of competition .. trainer has solid numbers

you know he can run fresh

broke his maiden on the turf and tapit's primarily a dirt site (one of the premier ones) would lead me to believe he might take to the tapeta surface there

still owned by the breeders and he's not up for sale so connections feel he still has some ability..


side note: there's a by liam's map
#6 liam the brave (20-1) who doesn't look bad at that price

A couple of notes here. The gelding makes perfect sense. That now 5 year old would have gained so much weight as a colt/horse as a 4 and 5 yr. old, that it would have put his injury, whatever it was in harms way big time. Smart move IMO.

Owner retains the horse so they did and still do feel there is some potential there. The trainer had decent numbers and if he is known to Todd and the owners, that is good enough for me. Was he worth a small play? yeah, probably. Is he worth continuing to follow? Absolutely ! He will most likely win within his next two starts.
Hang on to him in the stable Madison and let's follow him for the next two races.

Madison, please do keep this horse in your stable and let us know when he runs back. I just saw the replay and that effort was actually full of promise with what went on that was difficult to see.

If you watch it again, watch for these things:

1. The horse was unprepared for the start as was the rider. The starter gave them no time to get set. That was not cool at all. I do understand with a 12 horse field but that was ridiculous.

2. The rider lost his inside iron when it hit the gate coming out. Took him a few strides to get it back. That, just like with Deterministic last year prompted the horse to react by running off into and around the first turn and early down the backside into a blistering early pace. A total waste of energy.

He was 6 wide all the way around the 1st turn and I am being generous.

Finally settles some, but not enough to be pleased with, half way down then backside and still has enough to try and finish. By now the race is starting to go really slow. The last 1/4 mile in 27 and change shows that. So the making up of ground which ended when this horse became out of gas about the 1/4 pole was totally acceptable IMO for his 1st race back and what had happened up to that point.
He also never switched leads through the lane which showed you that he was so concerned with tired that he forgot. The horse had no concentration whatsoever that last 1/4 mile. Yet, when galloping out, he does not stop early, he actually gallops out very decently.

IMO,. this race is a hidden gem. This is the kind of race I stuck around for the last race for all those years ago. If I picked this race apart horse by horse, there might be 3-4 horses in here that would be very eligible to be claimed due to the fast early time, the slow late time, and all the incidentals that occurred. I lived for these types of races back then.

PLEASE keep us posted on this horse !

If you are the type of handicapper that watches every race everyday at a track and bets selectively, this race is a dream come true.

The chart comment was: "Askari never menaced throughout."

It should have said, "was always menaced by something throughout".

They even threw the odds up on the upper left corner of the screen and blocked most from seeing this guy through the late stretch. Lol.

Watching, and possibly betting this horse in his next two starts is a must IMO.

Hope this transfers. First multi quote repost. Askari $13/$5/$4 wps last night TP R9.

[Madison]

Looked like a 1/9 shot.

[JBEX]

by army mule..fairgrounds R7 #7 flick (10-1) @ 4:45

first time starter and trainer is bad at that..has a nice turf sprint pedigree (AM's run on grass and bottom also) but I think and sure str would agree the trainer info takes precedence .. considering that a good effort here would show a lot

Agree JBEX. The trainer stats usually should take precedent. In a perfect world, this horse breaks a bit tardy today, which goes to the preparation of a firster sometimes, shows hidden run, which I assume he has being by AM, and runs back next time in the same type of race, or lesser, which would be a gift as this does not look like a real tough event. When you watch for things, this is stuff that can really show up.
Am I surprised if he runs well today? No, they all seem to. But if what I mentioned happens, he could be a real decent play next out. Trainers win %'s probably increase a bit as a 2nd time starter, then 3rd. A horse to watch closely today IMO.
Thanks for the heads up. This one is worth following I think.

thanks str..

couple of more by AM today

turf paradise R2 @ 3:24
#2 come on mulitch (2-1)

turfway R8 @ 9:25
#4 top (8-1)




.

[str]

Hope this transfers. First multi quote repost. Askari $13/$5/$4 wps last night TP R9.

I hope you bet Madison. I hope others that read this did as well. That is about as enthusiastic as I can get on a next bet out type of horse without knowing all the circumstances. I'm really glad it won for you, and hopefully others. I do enjoy watching replays and seeing things that point forward to a solid next effort.
All the best sir.

[str]

thanks str..

couple of more by AM today

turf paradise R2 @ 3:24
#2 come on mulitch (2-1)

turfway R8 @ 9:25
#4 top (8-1)




.

Race 2 Turf paradise:

Come On Mulitch looks really solid in there. He should run very well.

Hunch bet with Gonzaga underneath. My High School's name from 100 years ago. Lol.


Turfway R8

#4 Top looks pretty good as well. The 1 horse beat him 2-3 lengths last time but with that race under the 4 horses belt, the 1 will need to run harder this time to beat him again.

Both these AM's have decent chances to run very well IMO.

[Easy-Rider 66]

Hey STR looking for your opinion on a horse. It's today Race #1 at FG. The horse in question is the #8 Cora's Legacy. you can access the PP's by Goldencents. I like the fact that the comment part of PP's said rallied between (just missed show) And also like some other things based on pace. If you get a chance to watch the replay you can see she was headed today and fought back and scored. At least that what I see for today. What do you see via PP's and replays? THX in advance.

[JBEX]

Race 2 Turf paradise:

Come On Mulitch looks really solid in there. He should run very well.

Hunch bet with Gonzaga underneath. My High School's name from 100 years ago. Lol.


Turfway R8

#4 Top looks pretty good as well. The 1 horse beat him 2-3 lengths last time but with that race under the 4 horses belt, the 1 will need to run harder this time to beat him again.

Both these AM's have decent chances to run very well IMO.

come on mulitch

last race gameness was impressive ..pace wasn't slow either and only one who ran a dirt route last out..good luck with your exacta str

top

respectable 3rd in debut and certainly could move forward off that..thing I like about turfway park for AM's is being able to run on dirt and grass more likely imo he might like the artificial surface ..realize that's already been proven somewhat with her debut..also you're not getting as many top horses that you'd get at CD and kee so a little class relief

[str]

Hey STR looking for your opinion on a horse. It's today Race #1 at FG. The horse in question is the #8 Cora's Legacy. you can access the PP's by Goldencents. I like the fact that the comment part of PP's said rallied between (just missed show) And also like some other things based on pace. If you get a chance to watch the replay you can see she was headed today and fought back and scored. At least that what I see for today. What do you see via PP's and replays? THX in advance.

Ok EZ. I was confused at first and watched Corrie's Legacy's last replay. And OMG, did you watch it?? She broke a step slow , was rated back to last in 25 and 50, closed ok but... the rider drops his outside reign at about the 1/8th pole and at the time she is a little flat. Not stopping but not gaining. He drops the outside reign, gathers it back up and she takes off like a rocket and finishes really well the last 1/16th or so.

Watch the outside reign on her start flopping and when the rider gathers her back up, she kicks on and finishes VERY well. Wow. The kind of stuff you love to see for next out plays. That would have been a clue off her last race. Today, just saw that replay, she breaks slow again, for no reason other than she is not focused I guess, but runs up to get a nice position and finishes well. Weird though, she switches back to her left lead at the 1/16th pole and then switches again to the right lead very late. Not sure what to make of that but she ran great today. And, not to say for sure but if we had seen that last effort, she certainly would have been on the watch list for today.

Hope you had her EZ. Great pick if you did.

[str]

Ok EZ. I was confused at first and watched Corrie's Legacy's last replay. And OMG, did you watch it?? She broke a step slow , was rated back to last in 25 and 50, closed ok but... the rider drops his outside reign at about the 1/8th pole and at the time she is a little flat. Not stopping but not gaining. He drops the outside reign, gathers it back up and she takes off like a rocket and finishes really well the last 1/16th or so.

Watch the outside reign on her start flopping and when the rider gathers her back up, she kicks on and finishes VERY well. Wow. The kind of stuff you love to see for next out plays. That would have been a clue off her last race. Today, just saw that replay, she breaks slow again, for no reason other than she is not focused I guess, but runs up to get a nice position and finishes well. Weird though, she switches back to her left lead at the 1/16th pole and then switches again to the right lead very late. Not sure what to make of that but she ran great today. And, not to say for sure but if we had seen that last effort, she certainly would have been on the watch list for today.

Hope you had her EZ. Great pick if you did.

Did she really go off 10-1 ??

[Easy-Rider 66]

Ok EZ. I was confused at first and watched Corrie's Legacy's last replay. And OMG, did you watch it?? She broke a step slow , was rated back to last in 25 and 50, closed ok but... the rider drops his outside reign at about the 1/8th pole and at the time she is a little flat. Not stopping but not gaining. He drops the outside reign, gathers it back up and she takes off like a rocket and finishes really well the last 1/16th or so.

Watch the outside reign on her start flopping and when the rider gathers her back up, she kicks on and finishes VERY well. Wow. The kind of stuff you love to see for next out plays. That would have been a clue off her last race. Today, just saw that replay, she breaks slow again, for no reason other than she is not focused I guess, but runs up to get a nice position and finishes well. Weird though, she switches back to her left lead at the 1/16th pole and then switches again to the right lead very late. Not sure what to make of that but she ran great today. And, not to say for sure but if we had seen that last effort, she certainly would have been on the watch list for today.

Hope you had her EZ. Great pick if you did.

Did she really go off 10-1 ??

<br>
<br>
yeah 10/1. Posted her in the thread but no $$$ down as I still can't bet Pari mutual in my state. It's been legal for 1 year but not live. NO I did not watch her last race replay.(should have) but will take a look soon. THX for the info on the leads, Very rarely do I catch that. Usually watching the rider's movements. thx.

[Easy-Rider 66]

OK watched the replay. the comment line was a little misleading as I though she was racing between for a bit. Maybe my error to assume that. Anyway impressive run she made. Agree by watching replay she was a follow next out. The race on 2/13 she went off at 17/1. today was 10/1. THX again.

[batt33]

Hope this transfers. First multi quote repost. Askari $13/$5/$4 wps last night TP R9.

I hope you bet Madison. I hope others that read this did as well. That is about as enthusiastic as I can get on a next bet out type of horse without knowing all the circumstances. I'm really glad it won for you, and hopefully others. I do enjoy watching replays and seeing things that point forward to a solid next effort.
All the best sir.

<br>
<br>
Thanks Madison for finding the post!

[batt33]

https://cdnb-media.myracehorse.com/blog/video/4584152701720592337img0072_1741284973811/MP4/4584152701720592337img0072_1741284973811.mp4

[COLOR=rgba(77, 76, 76, 0.9)]Caldera Workout Update
[/COLOR]
Caldera worked five furlongs this morning at Oaklawn Park outside of stablemate Ripped, covering the distance in a bullet :59.20. Trainer D. Wayne Lukas is still mulling over Derby prep options for your son of Liam’s Map, but Louisiana continues to be the front runner as of this moment. We will pass along any updates as soon as a decision has been made.

[JBEX]

guessing he traveled about 4 -6 lengths further going wide around both turns ..would account for the much lower (better) figure which as they said is an excellent one for a 3yo's this time of year..add to that (for me anyway) an early foal with a somewhat late start to his career (means he's getting his sh*t together quick) and I'd say things are developing really nice for him

interesting to see what final leg derby prep he'll shoot for..with the number he earned last out they might not be afraid to go anywhere..I like the louisiana derby as it's usually a little easier than arkansas or florida and you get to go the extra 1/16 th of a mile..5 weeks away and 6 weeks prior to the big one..nice spacing imo..whatever the path exciting to see him going forward as a serious contender

see if I'm right with caldera..thought la derby was a good fit for a final derby prep ..this post was right after his last race ..nice work at oaklawn batt

[str]

<br>
<br>
Thanks Madison for finding the post!

Ahh. It’s all starting to make sense now Batt. Lol.
Confused str… Who me? Hahaha

[JBEX]

by army mule..fairgrounds R7 #7 flick (10-1) @ 4:45

first time starter and trainer is bad at that..has a nice turf sprint pedigree (AM's run on grass and bottom also) but I think and sure str would agree the trainer info takes precedence .. considering that a good effort here would show a lot

was scratched

[Easy-Rider 66]

Hey guys: Trevor Denman retiring as the DEL MAR Race caller. One of the best announcers in the business imo. Will be interesting to see who replaces him? Will update when I know more.

[batt33]

Hey guys: Trevor Denman retiring as the DEL MAR Race caller. One of the best announcers in the business imo. Will be interesting to see who replaces him? Will update when I know more.

Larry Collmus...He called the fall meet at Delmar. Always loved Trevor.... and his calls "Moving like a winner" or "They would need to sprout wings to catch him now".

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/legendary-racecaller-trevor-denman-announces-retirement/

[batt33]

Ahh. It’s all starting to make sense now Batt. Lol.
Confused str… Who me? Hahaha

ah joining my club" Confused" lol!

[Easy-Rider 66]

Larry Collmus...He called the fall meet at Delmar. Always loved Trevor.... and his calls "Moving like a winner" or "They would need to sprout wings to catch him now".

https://www.thoroughbreddailynews.co...es-retirement/

Maybe Larry. I am hoping John Lies who has called DMR in the past.

[batt33]

see if I'm right with caldera..thought la derby was a good fit for a final derby prep ..this post was right after his last race ..nice work at oaklawn batt

I agree with the LA derby... the Virginia derby was also brought up.

I watched the workout... and it looked like he was just loping along.... then I saw the time and had to do a double take..!

[batt33]

Maybe Larry. I am hoping John Lies who has called DMR in the past.

Larry was named the caller, I will have to look up John Lies... He doesn't ring a bell.

[Easy-Rider 66]

Larry was named the caller, I will have to look up John Lies... He doesn't ring a bell.

ok did not know that. Lies calls the OKLAHOMA circuit WRD and Tulsa. Smooth low key voice. THX for the info.

[batt33]

ok did not know that. Lies calls the OKLAHOMA circuit WRD and Tulsa. Smooth low key voice. THX for the info.

[batt33]

turfway R8 @ 9:25
#4 top (8-1) Hustled out of the gate and along the rail I wonder if that took a little away down the stretch.
Winner finished well.
I have mentioned this before..... but "Vekoma" youngsters are "en Fuego"

first time starters are over 21% win rate.

[JBEX]

turfway R8 @ 9:25
#4 top (8-1) Hustled out of the gate and along the rail I wonder if that took a little away down the stretch.
Winner finished well.
I have mentioned this before..... but "Vekoma" youngsters are "en Fuego"

first time starters are over 21% win rate.

just kind of an even effort to me but admittedly just going by watching the race live and didn't look at a replay..fairgrounds was scratched and the turf paradise horse was pressed on the lead till the quarter pole (1 mile race) where she started to give it up and faded badly the final eighth
..both lightly raced and have a hunch they'll find the winners circle with some time..possibly the turfway horse might need to drop in vs maiden claimers ..the vekoma was impressive and he is ,as we've mentioned, cranking out some really good horses ..by candy ride (sire of gun runner.. $250k fee) think he's going to be an elite sire in the not too distant future..stands for $35k this year and opened at $20k in 2021

you have to keep in mind that AM is still working with mares who were bred to him at a $7500 fee and that will be true again with this years crop of 2yos..you can only do so much and relative to his fee he's a real producer..next years 2yo will be from a $12.5 fee and 2027's will be from a $25k fee so will be interesting how he'll do in the future with higher quality mares

[str]

turfway R8 @ 9:25
#4 top (8-1) Hustled out of the gate and along the rail I wonder if that took a little away down the stretch.
Winner finished well.
I have mentioned this before..... but "Vekoma" youngsters are "en Fuego"

first time starters are over 21% win rate.

just kind of an even effort to me but admittedly just going by watching the race live and didn't look at a replay..fairgrounds was scratched and the turf paradise horse was pressed on the lead till the quarter pole (1 mile race) where she started to give it up and faded badly the final eighth
..both lightly raced and have a hunch they'll find the winners circle with some time..possibly the turfway horse might need to drop in vs maiden claimers ..the vekoma was impressive and he is ,as we've mentioned, cranking out some really good horses ..by candy ride (sire of gun runner.. $250k fee) think he's going to be an elite sire in the not too distant future..stands for $35k this year and opened at $20k in 2021

you have to keep in mind that AM is still working with mares who were bred to him at a $7500 fee and that will be true again with this years crop of 2yos..you can only do so much and relative to his fee he's a real producer..next years 2yo will be from a $12.5 fee and 2027's will be from a $25k fee so will be interesting how he'll do in the future with higher quality mares

This is actually a really good race to watch on the replay. I encourage you to do it . I will show you something that helps understand what happened from the horses point of view.

When you pull up the replay, only watch the inside eye and head of the 4 horse. That is it. Just his eye that is visible. What you will see is, just before the break, the horse gets scared, or upset, jostled, whatever . At that exact time, this horse is NOT thinking about racing or breaking. He is ONLY thinking about what scared the heck out of him. Now maybe, something pinched him and it hurt and that scared him. I don't know but whatever it was, it had ALL of his attention. That does happen but it typically takes 3-4 seconds, just like it would for you, to catch your breath and get over being very startled. (Put yourself in the horses shoes). You get the crap scared out of you just before the starting pistol goes off, you are still recovering from that after only a second or two, and BANG ! There off. Would you break well and be focused?? I know I wouldn't. IMO, that is exactly what happened here.

The horse was not prepared to break after that event and needed another few seconds, but the starter sprung the latch and he was left flat footed, and not focused. So now what?

What we can hope for is that the trainer saw this and gets that horse back to the gate several times at least in the morning to just load, stand, and back out. Just give him a chance to settle. We can also hope he draws a more outside post next out so less time to be in there, and off the rail where that last experience occurred. If all that can occur, this horse will break much better next out, he will be in focus from the first stride, and if they can find a race with a little class relief, that would be enough to make this guy a winner IMO. Now maybe he cannot get that class relief. Is he good enough to win? Yeah, he might be. Off his 1st race, I felt he could improve and win. He did not get that chance with what went on in this horses world least night while in the gate.

So in my mind, this is a must follow next out.
Please let me/all of us, know when he is entered next. He might even show up with Blinkers "ON'. in his next start. Not saying he needs them but that might be the conclusion drawn from what took place.

Will be fun to follow . Someone write this horse down for an alert please.

[str]

This is actually a really good race to watch on the replay. I encourage you to do it . I will show you something that helps understand what happened from the horses point of view.

When you pull up the replay, only watch the inside eye and head of the 4 horse. That is it. Just his eye that is visible. What you will see is, just before the break, the horse gets scared, or upset, jostled, whatever . At that exact time, this horse is NOT thinking about racing or breaking. He is ONLY thinking about what scared the heck out of him. Now maybe, something pinched him and it hurt and that scared him. I don't know but whatever it was, it had ALL of his attention. That does happen but it typically takes 3-4 seconds, just like it would for you, to catch your breath and get over being very startled. (Put yourself in the horses shoes). You get the crap scared out of you just before the starting pistol goes off, you are still recovering from that after only a second or two, and BANG ! There off. Would you break well and be focused?? I know I wouldn't. IMO, that is exactly what happened here.

The horse was not prepared to break after that event and needed another few seconds, but the starter sprung the latch and he was left flat footed, and not focused. So now what?

What we can hope for is that the trainer saw this and gets that horse back to the gate several times at least in the morning to just load, stand, and back out. Just give him a chance to settle. We can also hope he draws a more outside post next out so less time to be in there, and off the rail where that last experience occurred. If all that can occur, this horse will break much better next out, he will be in focus from the first stride, and if they can find a race with a little class relief, that would be enough to make this guy a winner IMO. Now maybe he cannot get that class relief. Is he good enough to win? Yeah, he might be. Off his 1st race, I felt he could improve and win. He did not get that chance with what went on in this horses world least night while in the gate.

So in my mind, this is a must follow next out.
Please let me/all of us, know when he is entered next. He might even show up with Blinkers "ON'. in his next start. Not saying he needs them but that might be the conclusion drawn from what took place.

Will be fun to follow . Someone write this horse down for an alert please.

Wanted to add, that there was more to see in this replay once the race started but the most important part was the stuff I talked about. Happy to go over the other things during the race as well but didn't want to present too much in one post.

[JBEX]

This is actually a really good race to watch on the replay. I encourage you to do it . I will show you something that helps understand what happened from the horses point of view.

When you pull up the replay, only watch the inside eye and head of the 4 horse. That is it. Just his eye that is visible. What you will see is, just before the break, the horse gets scared, or upset, jostled, whatever . At that exact time, this horse is NOT thinking about racing or breaking. He is ONLY thinking about what scared the heck out of him. Now maybe, something pinched him and it hurt and that scared him. I don't know but whatever it was, it had ALL of his attention. That does happen but it typically takes 3-4 seconds, just like it would for you, to catch your breath and get over being very startled. (Put yourself in the horses shoes). You get the crap scared out of you just before the starting pistol goes off, you are still recovering from that after only a second or two, and BANG ! There off. Would you break well and be focused?? I know I wouldn't. IMO, that is exactly what happened here.

The horse was not prepared to break after that event and needed another few seconds, but the starter sprung the latch and he was left flat footed, and not focused. So now what?

What we can hope for is that the trainer saw this and gets that horse back to the gate several times at least in the morning to just load, stand, and back out. Just give him a chance to settle. We can also hope he draws a more outside post next out so less time to be in there, and off the rail where that last experience occurred. If all that can occur, this horse will break much better next out, he will be in focus from the first stride, and if they can find a race with a little class relief, that would be enough to make this guy a winner IMO. Now maybe he cannot get that class relief. Is he good enough to win? Yeah, he might be. Off his 1st race, I felt he could improve and win. He did not get that chance with what went on in this horses world least night while in the gate.

So in my mind, this is a must follow next out.
Please let me/all of us, know when he is entered next. He might even show up with Blinkers "ON'. in his next start. Not saying he needs them but that might be the conclusion drawn from what took place.

Will be fun to follow . Someone write this horse down for an alert please.

it was difficult for me to see the eye but did see a lot of head motion just before the gate opened..also looked like she possibly didn't switch leads till about the 1/8th pole but I'll let you be the final judge of that str



.

[str]

it was difficult for me to see the eye but did see a lot of head motion just before the gate opened..also looked like she possibly didn't switch leads till about the 1/8th pole but I'll let you be the final judge of that str



.

Good catch on the lead switch !
That horse was a mess mentally throughout the race.
I think the horse burned more energy mentally than physically.
we need to keep an eye on this one for sure.

[Easy-Rider 66]

Hey STR: tell us about the story where you put up a BILL on a horse race and returned 11K with a good friend of yours. Did you hit a super etc? THX.

[batt33]

just kind of an even effort to me but admittedly just going by watching the race live and didn't look at a replay..fairgrounds was scratched and the turf paradise horse was pressed on the lead till the quarter pole (1 mile race) where she started to give it up and faded badly the final eighth
..both lightly raced and have a hunch they'll find the winners circle with some time..possibly the turfway horse might need to drop in vs maiden claimers ..the vekoma was impressive and he is ,as we've mentioned, cranking out some really good horses ..by candy ride (sire of gun runner.. $250k fee) think he's going to be an elite sire in the not too distant future..stands for $35k this year and opened at $20k in 2021

you have to keep in mind that AM is still working with mares who were bred to him at a $7500 fee and that will be true again with this years crop of 2yos..you can only do so much and relative to his fee he's a real producer..next years 2yo will be from a $12.5 fee and 2027's will be from a $25k fee so will be interesting how he'll do in the future with higher quality mares

Speaking of young Am's the half brother to Timberlake "Hymn of Heaven " Is still at the farm the most recent work out was 4 F on Feb 25th.

[batt33]

This is actually a really good race to watch on the replay. I encourage you to do it . I will show you something that helps understand what happened from the horses point of view.

When you pull up the replay, only watch the inside eye and head of the 4 horse. That is it. Just his eye that is visible. What you will see is, just before the break, the horse gets scared, or upset, jostled, whatever . At that exact time, this horse is NOT thinking about racing or breaking. He is ONLY thinking about what scared the heck out of him. Now maybe, something pinched him and it hurt and that scared him. I don't know but whatever it was, it had ALL of his attention. That does happen but it typically takes 3-4 seconds, just like it would for you, to catch your breath and get over being very startled. (Put yourself in the horses shoes). You get the crap scared out of you just before the starting pistol goes off, you are still recovering from that after only a second or two, and BANG ! There off. Would you break well and be focused?? I know I wouldn't. IMO, that is exactly what happened here.

The horse was not prepared to break after that event and needed another few seconds, but the starter sprung the latch and he was left flat footed, and not focused. So now what?

What we can hope for is that the trainer saw this and gets that horse back to the gate several times at least in the morning to just load, stand, and back out. Just give him a chance to settle. We can also hope he draws a more outside post next out so less time to be in there, and off the rail where that last experience occurred. If all that can occur, this horse will break much better next out, he will be in focus from the first stride, and if they can find a race with a little class relief, that would be enough to make this guy a winner IMO. Now maybe he cannot get that class relief. Is he good enough to win? Yeah, he might be. Off his 1st race, I felt he could improve and win. He did not get that chance with what went on in this horses world least night while in the gate.

So in my mind, this is a must follow next out.
Please let me/all of us, know when he is entered next. He might even show up with Blinkers "ON'. in his next start. Not saying he needs them but that might be the conclusion drawn from what took place.

Will be fun to follow . Someone write this horse down for an alert please.

You always keep me on my toes to look at the races more closely!

[str]

Hey STR: tell us about the story where you put up a BILL on a horse race and returned 11K with a good friend of yours. Did you hit a super etc? THX.

Something came up. All good but will do it in the morning

[JBEX]

While we are on the Army Mule subject and mismanagement of placement for some of these horses by their connections, it will be cool to watch the horse Army Gal that Linda Rice just won her 2nd race in two starts with. As you know, I constantly praise her for putting her horses in really good situations. That's what she does. And the theory of a horse improving by being successful is hopefully something we will witness together.
That said, she is quickly running out of spots without trying a Stake as 2 other than races for 3 year olds in March are hard to fill and may not even be written quite yet. Either way, she will be looking for what is best for the horse which is always a breath of fresh air.

by army mule ..aqu R4 #6 army gal (5-2) @ 2:13


returns in 6 days and stretches to a mile vs stakes horses..she must really like her




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