It is my opinion that this meet is all about speed for the first 2 weeks in particular...after that, not so clearly dominant...thoughts?
This is especially true, assuming lack of rain, on the Mellon turf course.
Good Luck,
Joe B.
Last year at the SPA:
10 Days speed did well
13 Days closers did well
11 days were honest
There was no time period when the track got biased for many days in a row.
Turf courses played honest except when like cement or when soft/boggy. Pray that you do not get blocked along the inside or carried wide that first turn on the inner(esp mile races for 2yr olds.) as often happens here.
There is lots of rain in the forecast for the first week and this track superintendent has become famous for both sealing and not \"fluffing\" the surface. Both of these procedures have a tendency to affect the performance of certain running styles.
Pray for no rain and thread lightly early on to see if any bias develops. No worse angle than betting a horse who\'s running style will be adversely affected by a track\'s profile.
Good Luck!
Mike
Is the Mellon course the inner or outer?
Wednesday washout. 1 to 2 inches of rain in tomorrow\'s forecast.
Got a big storm with heavy rain about 4:00pm today. No real rain expected until late afternoon or early evening on Wednesday. Then they are now saying 2-4 inches through Thursday which will washout everything on the turf for a while. It cleared up nicely after the storm but we still might be off the turf opening day.
It\'s pouring rain and thunderstorms here this morning- expected to stay intermittant but heavy today-
The Mellon is the outer course. I had a conversation with Migliore several years back asking why speed did better on the Mellon than the inner.
His thoughts were that the turns were so sharp on the inner that unless you were at least 2 lengths in front turning for home, you actually had to take a hold of your mount which negated the advantage over horses closing on the outer paths.
Good Luck,
Joe B.