Question for the board on Interactif

[covelj70]

ok, thanks to Richiebee\'s not so subtle reminder, I went back and looked at Interactif\'s sheet from before the derby.

He is very competitive figures wise with these but here\'s the question.

How do we weigh the negative that he hasn\'t gotten back to his 2 year old top in 3 races as a 3 year old compared to the fact that he still should have alot of development room ahead of him given that big number as a 2 year old.

I like the trainer intent on this one as they pulled him from consideration in the derby so it says the owner/trainer is not desperate just to run in big races and there are good turf races he could have run in so I do like the intent here.

thoughts?

and before anyone dismisses him as a turf specialist, that could be true but there are HUGE question marks about every horse in here (distance, preferred surface, physical issues) so we should examine them all closely before tossing on issues that may not be true since Pletcher started him on the dirt this time last year.

[moosepalm]

We\'re reading tea leaves with trainer intent, but, my first take, albeit cynical, was that TAP looked at the mediocre field with beatable favorites, had a horse from his three year old \"B\" string who was rested (very) and thought to himself, maybe we can steal a piece of this.  So, essentially that\'s damning with faint praise, because, yes, he probably could be a part of the super.  If so, that narrows my field of possibilities for that play down to twelve.

[covelj70]

Moose,

that is an absolute classic line.

love it!

why do I have this strong feeling that I am going to be crying in my beer on Sat night?

[TreadHead]

Might be wrong, but I believe Codoy has also disappointed out of the unusually fast 2yr old turf race that Interactif was also in, so I\'d be curious to see if anyone out of that race has ever gone back to that fig or if it might have potentially been made too fast.

That aside, if you throw out whether or not that fig is legit and if he has gotten back to his 2 yr old number, he fits very well here with the numbers he has run at 3 if he can have the turf to dirt jumpup.  Will he?  That becomes the important question.

[marcus]

Not exactly a hard knocking pattern - although some of these types do invaribly get back to their 2 yo top in the Belmont but imo in a rather static or random manner .

That Zito horse who won the rainy Belmont at 40-1 some several years ago in the early 00\'s had a much worse line .

Editors Note is not a great comparison , he wasn\'t regressing , but when it eventially became time for me to get off him - well, the rest is history  . ..  

Best racing luck in the Belmont everyone !

[big18741]

TAPs gotten pretty good results in this race the last three years.

Interactif fits on 12f pedigree and he\'s versatile in his running style.Timing looks real good with eight weeks and some solid works over the strip.Going by the work tab on 5/22 he probably went in company with Tiger\'s Rock(solid 4yo dirt marathoner) who is in the 12f Brooklyn on Friday.That\'s the work that sold them on the Belmont with supposedly a strong gallop out.Don\'t know who he worked with on 5/29 maybe Tiger\'s Rock again but that work was quicker than a couple others the same day going in the Belmont.

I don\'t get the feeling this was an owners call-like Dave in Dixie,Uptown or the Dutrow horse.Horse might be okay in here.Pair up puts him in the mix at double digits.

[richiebee]

Good points Big.

Another colt whose participation might be owner driven is Drosslemeyer. Billy Mott
is saying all the right things, but I have a feeling he is not 100% happy about
running this colt on tender hooves.

Speaking of Tigers Rock, who will go in the Brooklyn Friday, you refer to him as
a \"solid 4YO dirt marathoner\". The truth is that his only 2 career dirt races were
on the AQ inner tube, both wins at marathon distances. Does this form transfer to
Belmont? A bet against giving weight to all in this field?

[covelj70]

Richie,

Good questions on the Brooklyn, I am just as confused there as I am on the Belmont.  I think I have to take a stand against Pletcher in the Brroklyn for the reasons you mentioned above but I am not going to feel good about that when the gates open given the roll this guy is on.

[miff]

Why would a ground loaded figure,on a slow TURF course,have any relationship to a horses ability to run legit fast on dirt?

As stated,that figure TG 1 3/4 has to be reviewed as others have come out of that race with big figs and have not come close to repeating it.


Mike

[TreadHead]

I dont think that turf figure has anything to do with his dirt ability, that was exactly my point.  If you put a thumb over that fast 2yr old turf figure he has a nice enough looking line and having never been on dirt you don\'t really know if he will have a dirt jump from his synth form this spring or not.  But his synth figures are fast enough that if that jump up does happen, he would be right there it would seem.  Although many have suggested he really is a turf horse, and very well may be, you just don\'t know until he actually tries the dirt under these conditions.

[nyc1347]

another experimental horse who jumps all over the place..  i have no idea why pletcher hasnt run him on turf yet this year...or at least i dont think so.  i would def assume he runs best on turf cause if he ran better on dirt he would practically be in the negative territory.. maybe he will.. but im leaning on no.

[jbelfior]

Went back through the Archives. Did not see anyone in the past 12 years who even competed in the race off of this long of a layoff.

Who tries the Belmont off of a 2 month layoff? I highly doubt that Pletcher preferred the 1 1/2 Belmont on dirt over the Hill Prince.

And while I am writing this, umpire Jim Joyce just screwed the Tigers pitcher Armando Gallaraga out of a perfect game. What a travesty!!!


Good Luck,
Joe B.

[ROBERT49]

I\'m a Detroiter for 60 years. This might be the worst screwing we have ever gotten. Just a shame.

[P-Dub]

Joyce blew the call.  Here is part of the article of what happened.


\"I just cost that kid a perfect game,\" a dejected -- and admirably forthright -- Joyce said afterwards. (Galarraga reported that a teary-eyed Joyce had apologized to him, and that the pitcher gave the ump a hug.) \"I thought he beat the throw. I was convinced he beat the throw, until I saw the replay. ... Biggest call of my career and I kicked the s--- out of it.\"

At least the guy admitted he blew the call. Nobody feels worse than that guy. He\'s been an excellent umpire for 20 years and unfortunately will always be remembered for this game.

In an unrelated note, I am watching a replay of GM 3 Chicago/Philadelphia.  I do not know who won although I saw that it was 3-3 in the 3rd period (glanced at the tv at work).  While I am watching the game on NHL Network, they run a scroll at the bottom with the final score.  Phil-4 Chicago-3 in OT. Why in the bleep would you show a replay of a game and then run a scroll at the bottom with the final score??

[jack72906]

Exactly. It\'s about as ridiculous as TVG showing races from certain tracks on tape delay but scrolling the results of the race yet to be shown on the bottom of the screen.