A lot of handicappers were waiting with anticipation to see how the track was playing. Conventional wisdom seemed to point to a drying out track being kind to closers. Such was not the case as it turned out to be like an east coast version of Santa Anita.
Point of Entry raced huge in the Manhattan, going wide and digging in like great horses do. My only problem with him was his place in the pick 4 sequence. As players we live for a chance at a huge score on big days, and trap races in a pick 4 really dampen that. I didn't take a pick 4.
Perretti Farms' Forty Tales took advantage of the crazy pace and stormed home to win nicely. Congrats to everyone at Perretti.
When you put Oxbow in the mix he sure is a good horse isn't he? He was contesting a fast pace in the Derby and raced really well, got things his own way at Pimlico and raced really well, and contested a fast pace in the Belmont and raced really well. He probably deserved more than a 6-1-2 boxscore.
Orb and Joel Rosario went back to the Derby playbook for their trip, racing wide and from the rear. It was not enough, but on that speed track one wonders how good a horse would've needed to be, to win racing that wide. He was the only horse to close a lick.
The winner, Palace Malice was overlooked by quite a few folks. He finally got a decent settled trip and won fairly easily. He has not had a chance to show what he can do, the last several races.
The final time, and the final half, make one wonder: How bad are the classic distance horses in North America?
The off-track and ADW handle was down for the big day from last year, which was not surprising when you looked at the card and the weather. Attendance of course was down, with no Triple Crown on the line.
At Mohawk, the North America Cup elims were contested. Captain Treacherous got everything his own way and won elim one, although
Speed ruled the day in elimination two with Fool Me Once. Wake Up Peter raced a solid prep. He's a horse with any kind of draw I will be looking to bet in the final.
In the last elim Vegas Vacation won fairly easily, but slightly on one line. I do not like this horse next week. The runner up, Odds on Equuleus raced much better but was struggling the last fifty yards. I was disappointed in his effort, especially since I wanted to bet him next week if he showed some zip.
Unlike last year's version, this year's seems a little less deep. But it will be interesting.
Enjoy your Sunday everyone.
1 comment:
From the third race on, it was nearly impossible to win from off of the pace. Consider this chronological list of dirt races (3rd through the Belmont), and the positions of the the first two finishers at the head of the stretch:
1,2
2,1
1,2
1,3
1,2
*
1,2
*The Woody Stephens was the lone anomaly, as closers did well.
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