Queen's Plate and Thoro Pattern

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

Granique-Still think this horse is a pace factor animal, though that is the only reason he\'s mentioned.

King of Jazz-Beaten at Hallandale by Three in the Bag, then ran a very slow Keeneland race on a very slow track. Certainly does have an apparent X-0 pattern working and the next one would be the bad one on the cycle, but he\'s a young horse and its hard to take the Keeneland figure to heart, its been such a quirky track. Nafzger has been on target recently, so am inclined to think this one is going to run a decent race. The question is will it be good enough? K One King is an Apalachee and other than the Three in a Bag race he\'s not faced anything significant in rivals or conditions that I can ascertain.

Wild Desert-Assuming he comes back with the same pace style, that, the distance and the weight are probably the biggest impediments this race. The pace doesn\'t look to be overly hot and he is a Wild Rush trying to get up at 10 marks. The Lanes End looks legit, so he\'s run faster than all but the filly but they got him vying for favoritism at the DRF site and I\'d want dang near double digits odds and thought thats what he\'d be. At co Favorite or thereabouts he\'s yours.

Albo-Only reason he\'s mentioned is Attfield. Agree with TGJB, this is a sprint bred animal trying 10 marks. Pass for me.

Gold Strike-Clearly fastest, pace advantaged. The issue being is she good enough to overcome lack of trainer intent for this race. She was not managed to win this thing. Thats very troublesome.

Three in the Bag- The most impressive part of his resume to me is that game second to Reverberate. The latter did not run his race in the Belmont Stakes.

Dances with Ravens- Granted he hasn\'t been as fast as the others coming into this race, but all along you know this was the target for the peak effort. However, he ran dead game last and would not let Three in the Bag by and you know that the longer this horse goes the better he\'s gonna fair vs most of the competition he meets. Lastly, he\'s toted the load. Omit at your peril.

Get Down- This horse was the favorite in the Plate Trial and may get overlooked today. The trial was not all that bad an effort if you belief there is a legitimate reason he can run faster Sunday. The Plate Trial was essentially this horse\'s first two turn race. The Sammy Davis was a troubled trip that he got nothing out of. In the Trial, he hung right in there with them late. Once they pounced and cleared him that wasn\'t it. He didn\'t give up. Depending how far the crowd discounts him, this horse has the potential to pay this race up.

King of Jazz- +9lbs...71% to off or x irregardless of weight

Wild Desert-  +8lbs...67% to off or x irregardless of weight

Albo-         +5lbs...48% to off or X irregardless of weight

Gold Strike        ...15% to X (an off probably wins it)

Three in the Bag......36% to off or X

Dance with Ravens.....71% to off or X

Get Down..............42% to off or X

On the percentages you have to eliminate King of Jazz and Wild Desert. Also Gold Strike appears to have the ability to win the race on an \"Off\" race so she looks a good bet. Probably the last time a horse came into a major race with a three to four point cushion on the competition was Ghostzapper in his last couple races. The question is do these statistics hold up in this context? and of course what is the filly going off at?