In a post on this board on 7/22, Barry Irwin, President of Team Valor, invited TG users to \"...bet all you can on [La Ina]. Mortgage your house!\". Apparently this animal will be running for the first time after throat surgery (entrapped epiglottis). She is entered in the 7th race Thursday at the Spa.
Note with interest that Team Valor has an entrant trained by Todd Pletcher in today\'s 6th race. At Oaklawn this winter, Team V sacked their newly hired private trainer (Ralph Nicks?) after one of his animals tested positive, showing zero tolerance. Curious as to what Team V\'s reaction would be if TP is suspended
over a positive on an animal not owned by Team V.
Why we love the Spa, Day 1: 8th Race, 100K Optional Claimer, drew 7 entrants, 5 of which are Graded Stakes winners.
What I found curious about his comments was that he said more than a dozen Team Valor horses had undergone corrective surgery over the years but few showed any improvement. Then he goes on to say that La Ina just had corrective surgery and he loves her in this race. I just looked at her form. It\'s pretty clear she has terriffic back form (and I personally believe that German racing is currently improving in leaps and bounds and is quite underrated at present). However, her first race in this country was mediocre at best. So what\'s the story? Did he mean the procedure will enable her to reproduce her best form but not improve?
Richiebee,
Not sure if that was actually Barry Irwin or not. Sounded a lot like Chuckles the Clown to me. The only thing that was missing was the closing comment that Chuckles would add. Something about Ghostzapper not being good and being questionable at 10 \"marks\".....
Seriously though, La Ina fits in the race. TGraph gave her an \"8\" in her U.S. debut, which pairs up her previous top, which was run when she came second in a Group 1 in Germany. To be honest, that doesm\'t make sense to me, since the U.S. race was nx1 allowance. But, the \"8\" puts her as the top figure horse in this race. Fastidia has run a few \'9\'s\', but the rest are slow. She doesn\'t have to improve to win, and the ML is a fair price.
As for Barry not seeing any 3 or 4 year old fillie in the states that can match strides with this horse, that is a ridiculous hyperbole. Let her run a fast race, before we anoint her.........
jimbo,
I don\'t know Barry well, but I owned a piece of a horse via TV a few years back. I had a few conversations with him then and via e-mail when one of my best friends owned a couple of horses with those guys. I got the impression that he didn\'t weigh speed figures as much as some people. If that was really him (?), I think he\'s looking at that Grade 1 placing in Germany and thinks those horses were VERY MUCH better than these despite the speed figure. I will also say that IMO he tended to overrate the horses under his management. That filtered down to the owners (some of whom were apparently pretty big betters). If that was him and he really believes what he was saying about this horse, IMO she\'ll be a solid favorite because a few people may be mortgaging the house. :)
I dont know if it was really Barry Irwin and I dont have the TGs for today. Looking at DRF, this is not an easy spot, with Clement, Shug, Voss and Mott all represented, and with Johnny V riding a sneaky looking animal for his father in law.
A lot of the fillies/ mares in this race are coming out from behind MASSEUSE, who some of the fellas on this board who follow Colonial say was best in the stakes race down there a couple of weeks ago (Va Oaks?).
Why we love Saratoga, Day 2: With all of the media coverage at the meet, it doesn\'t take long for the issues to be discussed. Is it possible that for every 5 or 6 potential cheaters who are deterred each day by Detention, 2 or 3 horses will go off form during the time they are detained?
Hate to accentuate the negative, but 9 x 9 stalls are a travesty, something a trainer might expect to see at Fairmount Park or Thistledown. And news bulletin for the NYRA rep who said \"That\'s the size of the stalls at Fasig Tipton\". Those are yearlings.
Note: AA out for the summer
2-1 on the \"mortgage the rent horse\".
I usually prefer 5-1 or longer when I am about put my house up.....