Weekend Overview: There were not very many high quality races but the races that were run had quite an impact on the top tier. Any Given Saturday's romp in the Haskell is sending shock waves through fans and writers. Is he really that good? Nashoba's Key is a great story and by the looks of her she's a real racehorse. She loves to run and so far she has always brought her A game. The competition tried to gang up on her but she was simply too much for them. Nobiz Like Showbiz made a successful transition to Turf as well. It will be interesting to see the direction Tagg takes with him now.
Performance of the Week: I loved Dream Rush's Test but I think there would be an uproar from all 6 readers if Any Given Saturday was not given this weeks honour. He was facing the toughest field of the week and he destroyed and got the highest routing Beyer Speed Figure of any 3yo this year (113). The numbers put him in Street Sense's class and it will be interesting to see how they fare against each other in the future. I was very pleased with Any Given Saturday, as some faithful readers would have noted he was Derby horse and I thought he was the best 3yo in the nation in all the months leading up to the Derby. He did not quite realize that potential in the spring but he's coming into his own now. Unfortunately I do not think that Any Given Saturday will be given a chance in the Travers. Pletcher generally prefers to give his horses more time and the BC Classic will be the main goal. I do hope he gets a chance to run at 10f again before the classic. Given the way he performed in the Derby it's not clear that 10f is his best game.
Race of the Week: I don't have any nomination for this category this week.
Flop of the Weekend: Curlin is my flop of the weekend, he did finish third but he showed none of his normal zip. Monmouth does favor speed and perhaps he should have been ridden closer to the pace but he never kicked in and it has to be a huge disappointment for his fans and connections. They may be wondering if he still has the stuff to compete with Street Sense.
TCR Mover’s and Shakers: Curlin moved into second overall and first in the 3yo division despite his 3rd place finish in the Haskell. Things are so tight at the top right now every point counts. Street Sense need only run third in the Travers to take back top spot and even Rags To Riches claim as the overall leader is in serious jeopardy as Curlin, Lava Man and Street Sense could all pass her if they run back before she does. Dream Rush shot to the top of the Female Sprinter division. Her win in the Test was sublime, she has been a winning machine this year. Precious Kitten moved to second in the Female Turf division but with the Beverly D being run next weekend she'll have a hard time holding onto that spot.
Tip O’the Cap: The entire 3yo division gets the nod this week. The older horses this year have been a bit underwhelming but the 3yo's have been fantastic to watch. At the present time we have 6 3yo colts in the top 20 and an additional 2 more 3yo fillies. The consistency this crop has shown has been remarkable. All 6 of the 3yo's who are in the top 20 ran in the Derby and both fillies were in the Oaks. I can't even think of the last crop that compares with this one.
KC Handicapping: A slow week with only one race selected and my primary choice being scratched. This week in general was not a very good one handicapping wise. I had only 12 winners at Saratoga and had a negative week. I'm still positive for the meet though. Hopefully things will look up in Week 3 at the Spa. Remember you can find all of those selections on the sidebar.
Cumulative record of selected horses: 2(1)-0-0-0 (-$4.00 -100.00% ROI)
Overall record: 327(137)-61-52-52 (-$56.80 -8.69% ROI)
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excellent run by AGS all the war around // my recollection is that AGS was the pick by Kennedy's Corridor to win the Kentucky Derby so there has to be some vindication there // Scat Daddy the 20/20 pick was really roughed up during the running of the Derby and in retrospect all things considered not bad handicapping // as for Curlin, while he did not run all that badly, if not the flop of the weekend, he had to be the biggest disappointment of the weekend for all those sending him off at 4/5 odds // but like like other colts who have failed at 4/5 odds, he stands a great chance to rebound from that assuming no injury etc. and still be a factor the rest of the year and I remain optimistic about his future // Apparently RGS is not going to the Alabama // This did not surprise me as there may be something wrong with her // I can't believe Pletcher would send her up against the colts prior to the BC or against horses and colts in the BC but I have not predicted anything correctly lately that Pletcher has done recently so we'll see // He is not shy about mixing the sexes, for example Honey Ryder but I still think he has a greater desire to send RGS to retirement undefeated // chicago gerry
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