JD was simply outstanding. He figured to win today, and I think he had the best horse in the Test. I do think, however, that he simply stole the two turf stakes races. Santos clearly had the best horse in both races, and Volponi was probably better in the Diana, but Bailey found a way to get to the winners circle in both. I sometimes think JD is a bit overrated, but after he won both turf stakes at 7-2, I must give him his credit; he is the best...... As for the overall meet, I think the handicapping was very difficult. Despite the large number of winning favotites, I still found it difficult to put three winners together. I managed to hit the double on Saturday with Bailey and the Monmouth horse, but I struggled to stay above water over the first five days. I do think, however, that the meet is off to a great start, and I think next w/e should be a lot of fun. I hope to post some picks, I hope others will as well. Let\'s see if anybody can beat this very difficult meet.
Santos is very good at losing with the best horse. He couldn\'t find the rail if you stuck it up his ass.
I disagree with the Santos comment. He finds the rail more times than not especially on the turf.
Forbidden Apple had the patented inside trip/come out for the drive on Friday. Coming off the big figure off the layoff probably took some out of him.
Voodoo Dancer coming out of post 9 makes it tough for an inside trip. Gave weight to the winner. Tough beat.
I am 99% sure that if Bailey rode FA and VD, and Santos rode DS and TC, the results would have been different. No change that, I am 100% sure that the results would have been flipped around. I will give Santos credit for one thing however. FA is 6 years old (I think). If he had Bailey on his back for all these years, he probably still wouldn\'t be running now. Santos loses more than his fair share of photos, but he never overextends the horses; bad for the players, good for the owners and breeders.
As bad as Santos is when he draws outside (especially on a course with sharp turns) he\'s even worse when stuck in posts 1 -3. The trip notes on just about every grass horse he rides with an inside post are some variation of \"blocked\", \"taken up sharply\" \"steadied repeatedly\", or \"lacked room\" followed by \"closed well for second\" \"finished strongly for show \"or \"just missed.\"
Why Clement continues to ride him is beyond me. He must have pictures...
when he first arrived ,Santos was the king of saving ground ,he\'d wait till mid-stretch tip out and more often then not win going away .He is then turned into perhaps the biggest money burner i\'ve ever seen ,recently he has had a his career revived a bit ,but you\'ll never see him go up the rail like J.D. did on You in the Test ,a real daisy of a ride .The guys is still the best with the money on the line .By the way I\'ve been noticing J.D. taking that rail route with some regularity ,especially on the dirt ,in the last couple of years .This meet means alot to him he takes more chances here and last year he ever rode some claimers up there .
think you are right on the money teekay...in the big races, he just doesn\'t get to the winners circle unless his horse is two or three lengths better than the rest.