miff,Frank Lyons on TVG/The Works said the bar shoes were a precautionary measure just for training. Won\'t wear them tomorrow,at least according to Lyons.

92 Beyer is encouraging. Fast but not ridiculously fast and being under the care of a conservative trainer like Drysdale is a big plus for a horse this precocious. Be interesting  what sort of # TG gives him, inside trip and all but I think it's significant that we are already into mid December which IMO sets him apart from past 2yo's that were running lights out during the summer and fall that fell flat on their faces as 3yo\'s.

Michael, watching the replay via MSNBC web site on a fairly large LCD flat screen monitor. The horse you were referring to was Bwana Charlie who clearly broke slower then C.S. again using the 6f pole as the point of reference, PT's Grey Eagle appears on even terms with C.S. and even Speightstown broke about ½ to ¾ of a length slow behind the main pack. What I find puzzling is not so much why Ragozin decided to give C.S. an 's' but why Bwana Charlie wasn't noted the same?

Michael D, we need a clearer definition of an 's\' & \'S\' if Ragozin is attempting to quantify all this. I'm assuming they would be noting where the horses are at the point when the teletimer beam is tripped. Just M.O. but if you watch the start of the BC sprint again hit the pause button when the main pack reach the 6f pole and CS is approx one length behind when the actual timing of the race begins before dropping further back. A couple other horses broke even more tardy then CS if the location of the starting beam is the demarcation point.

I\'ve heard John Kerry deliver better skits. Don't give up the day job.

Perhaps you might want to take an on line poll amongst your customer base whether to change the scale. For what its worth count me in for moving it, I know it will be a pain in the a-- on your end but  negative sixes are tough on the eye.

It reminded me of Meadow Star and Lite Lite

To: TGJB

Just curious but where does Ghostzapper\'s Iselin number fit amongst your all time best rankings? Also I noticed they watered the track a mere 11 minutes prior to the Woodward today. I read your piece at the DRF symposium but I\'m still not sure how you quantify the effects of watering.

What mainly prompted my question TGJB was how you're approaching the new 7&½ distances. If you're not assuming fixed relationships (extrapolating between 7furlongs and a mile) can we assume you're 7&½ figures are being generated strictly on the histories of the horses?

TGJB
  You put up a recent post about not assuming fixed relationships between distances. I conjured up half a dozen possible interpretations as to what you might be trying to say, could you elaborate on this a bit ?

I know Friedman built his reputation reading sheets but making them is a whole different ball game. I have no idea how good a figure maker he is because he never lets us in on his methodologies but I'll tell you when I really began to wonder about him. A year or so ago there was a debate about the number he posted for Chilluki's debut 4&1/2f race at Keeneland. One of the very few times he's ever responded to any of these sort of things he came out and assured the lemmings on his board he verified it by going back and looking at the subsequent numbers of the runners in the field. I couldn\'t believe what he said and NOBODY over there questioned him. Using the subsequent numbers of wildly unpredictable 2yo fillies in April and May to prove the accuracy of a 4&1/2 figure for early spring? Ouch. You\'re right,\'Kool-Aid Raggies\'Bill O\'Reilly would call them

From today\'s DRF Simulcast Weekly & Dave Litfin\'s June 5th track trends: \"Track quickened under spotty light rain; no bias\" What pisses me off is Friedman NEVER responds to any of these matters. The Gospel according to Robes. And nobody on the other board ever asks questions about figure making issues or he simply deletes them. I think followers of both camps would find a Robes/TGJB debate both enlightening and entertaining.

This story from Tuesday\'s Boston Globe from a non racing sports columnist. Terrific piece, take a couple minutes to read it.

http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/horse_racing/articles/2004/06/08/despite_upset_a_crowning_moment_for_racing/

Ditto ExpressBet.Worked fine early,from about the 4th race on I kept getting the answering service for \'Aaron\'s Autobody\' telling me to leave a message after the beep. Kid you not.

the Sartin crowd may judge SJ's performance differently then the sheet/Beyer camps probably will.