While I had no interest in the race other than providing a better performance of First Call than the past 2 years,(mission accomplished), BC was very impressive on the replay running 2nd. I would think the Jockey Club GC will be very appealing to Todd.
i\'m beginning to think cat is just slow in developing and expect him to run lights out in the bc - if given time off now to fatten up a little after the tc campaign . what do you guess he ran in the bel ? he seemed to give his race ...
marcus Wrote:
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> i\'m beginning to think cat is just slow in
> developing and expect him to run lights out in the
> bc - if given time off now to fatten up a little
> after the tc campaign . what do you guess he ran
> in the bel ? he seemed to give his race ...
>
>
>
Being predisposed to dismiss Storm Cat\'s you have to have a modicum of respect for Bluegrass. He\'s a bit of a chugger, but has hung around while everyone else has had excuses. Still, his top is in the 1-2 range and to think he\'s running that at 10 and 12 poles isn\'t reasonable. He\'s gonna have trouble with the older horses who have a lot more brillance than this crop. Have to predict that once he faces the big boys he goes on a serious schneid, but can see him being a factor with the horses he faced in the Belmont.
ctc - i hear what you are saying , bluegrass would have to show alot more than he has now ...
he\'s a very honest animal. solid races from 7f to 9f as a two yr old, and solid races from 8.5f to 12f as a three year old (at three different tracks).
i think he was unlucky on saturday. post 9 wasn\'t a good draw, but the horse has good tactical speed, and, going in, you had to think he would save a bit more ground than he did. if Gomez doesn\'t gun early with B&J, it\'s likely bluegrass wins the race.
i\'m not sure he\'s more than a \'1\' or \'2\' horse at the moment though.
mid season rankings:
1. bernardini
2. discreet cat
3. SNS
4. bluegrass cat
5. sunriver
6. brother derek
7. jazil
it\'s tough putting sunriver ahead of jazil, but the latter did have the better of it in terms of timing going into the Belmont. i don\'t really like bro derek much either, but given proper rest, and given the trip, he can get back to the \'0\' lvl. get him back with his comfy california competition, and he\'ll be back in the circle.
potentials coming back off injuries:
1. barbican
2. corinthian
the cal crew was phony, but ap warrior still interests me a bit. he\'s got the bernardini look of ap indy over quiet american over northern dancer. one of these days maybe.
I agree about AP Warrior...maybe one day, the \'light\' will go on. He\'s a horse that would probably explode first time gelding, but with his breeding, thats out of the question.
If Bl Cat could not wash out as bad, he could be a force...he was pretty strong late, running right with Jazil thru the wire. Maybe he\'ll get better as the weather gets colder later in the year and maybe he\'ll do well at CD again if he makes the BC classic.
Anyone think that Steppenwolfer may have been ridden bad? THe guy could have had this horse too close to the pace and very wide throughout....if the guy would have dropped back and made one run, he may have had a better kick.
im,
i think step needs an easier race.
that ark derby collapsed, and he still couldn\'t get up.
he\'ll be 3/5 the day he finally wins though, and everyone will scream \"i knew it\".
always taking the trip risk with albarado.
Michael D. Wrote:
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> he\'s a very honest animal. solid races from 7f to
> 9f as a two yr old, and solid races from 8.5f to
> 12f as a three year old (at three different
> tracks).
>
> i think he was unlucky on saturday. post 9 wasn\'t
> a good draw, but the horse has good tactical
> speed, and, going in, you had to think he would
> save a bit more ground than he did. if Gomez
> doesn\'t gun early with B&J, it\'s likely
> bluegrass wins the race.
>
> i\'m not sure he\'s more than a \'1\' or \'2\' horse at
> the moment though.
>
> mid season rankings:
>
> 1. bernardini
> 2. discreet cat
> 3. SNS
> 4. bluegrass cat
> 5. sunriver
> 6. brother derek
> 7. jazil
>
> it\'s tough putting sunriver ahead of jazil, but
> the latter did have the better of it in terms of
> timing going into the Belmont. i don\'t really like
> bro derek much either, but given proper rest, and
> given the trip, he can get back to the \'0\' lvl.
> get him back with his comfy california
> competition, and he\'ll be back in the circle.
>
> potentials coming back off injuries:
>
> 1. barbican
> 2. corinthian
>
>
> the cal crew was phony, but ap warrior still
> interests me a bit. he\'s got the bernardini look
> of ap indy over quiet american over northern
> dancer. one of these days maybe.
>
>
Agree with many on that list Michael. Regarding the Blue Cat, most Storm Cats are precocious. They show their best at 2 and early at 3 until their peers catch up with them. Usually, I don\'t expect Storm Cats to run on in top company at 4, but there are some exceptions. Tabasco Cat and Cat Thief come to mind. (Correction, Tabasco Cat never raced as a 4YO). TGraph has their Sire Index and not sure if it agrees with my anecdotal experience but thats the take for what its worth. Storm Cats are usually pretty high strung too and Bluecat washing out is pretty much par for the course.
Additionally, Jazil did not break real well either and it is rare for a closer to win the Belmont from last. Think that feat was in great part a function of the horses he had to pass.
As for Discreet Cat, (who is a Forestry I believe), can\'t commit opinion to him as of yet. Rumor has it the competition was drugged in his big Arabia win, so have to remain a skeptic until a winning margin is displayed here. Probably will take a mighty swing at him first start stateside.
The only horse I would add is Sinister Minister. Don\'t think we saw he\'s typcial race Derby Day. Not sure what his typical race is yet, but to my mind theres reason to think he is going to demolish the Haskell field regardless of who shows up for it.
CtC