Been watching his 2014 races and I\'m wondering what he becomes if he ever learns how to change leads.
Good Luck,
Joe B
He really screwed himself up in the La Derby.
I think he was trying to switch back and front at the same time when he smashed the rail.I\'m sure they work on it all the time trying to get it corrected.
It\'ll be interesting to see where Mike Smith ends up and if it\'s Hoppertunity
who goes to Intense Holiday?
I really like this horse and his chances in the Derby. He had enough points and the fig from the Risen Star. I don\'t believe they had him cranked up for the La Derby. Closer, so yes might have ground loss in the derby but he should be good value on Derby Day.
If you look at the pace figures and his PPs, Smith rode him much more aggressively in the LADerby than he did in the Risen Star. could be that he was making his own adjustment to what he thought was a speed-favoring track and was trying to do what he could to win the race, even if it wasn\'t the horse\'s best style. (Or maybe the connections told him to, who knows).
I think a return to relaxation in the beginning of the race could spell a return to a zero like effort again, which hopefully would also translate to better response in the lane and a more fluid motion/lead change. Not sure if he is good enough to win regardless, but do like his race running down a speed horse (that was running something close to a 0 himself) from the back of the field. It\'s one of the only performances like that we\'ve seen so far on the Derby Trail (the Wood too, of course), closing from far back to win a race.
In my experience, most of the time when a horse isn\'t switching leads, it\'s because something is bothering them. Not always the case but often
The fact that he reacted to a figure would suggest there\'s an issue there as well.
Now, as we have learned many times over, for one big race, the issues can be patched up and the horse can run well but I wouldn\'t necessarily assume that the lack of switching leads is because he needs to learn anything.
Pletcher is brilliant with these young horses. If he hasn\'t taught them to switch, there\'s likely a reason.
He\'s one that will be important to get a read on how he trains derby week. Important on some level for all of them, more important for him.
I\'m looking to bet this horse.
Hopefully, he takes to the surface.
Let\'s face it, Mike Smith will choose Hoppertunity.
I\'m hoping Pletcher goes with C. Borel