Drefong and the Forego Model.

[Tavasco]

I think most figured if Big Money Mike stayed on Drefong\'s back until the finish line he would win. Which he did. Maybe its another example of lone speed. Maybe it is also insight into Drefong\'s brilliance.

In the Forego (which is 7F remember) he broke from post 10. He angled over to the two path and had cleared the pressers by a full length after 1/4 mile in 22.89. He was being pursued closest by Stallwalkin Dude and Tale of S\'avali (an unsually position for ToS who general closes late). The chasing riders (Bravo & Franco) may have realized that Drefong had the best extended pace figures in the race. Which means essentially if he gets ahead of you you aren\'t gonna catch him. Different from many early speed horses who end up hanging on (senior moment Vanilla Fudge covering the Supremes).  So the 1/2 mile fraction comes up 45.58 with Stallwalkin Dude beginning to fade while ToS continues to trail by a length surprising me at least.

Drefong stretched his lead from that point (predictably say the pace guys)  stone closers Awesome Slew and Tom\'s Ready with heady pilots (Velasquez & Hernandes) and really no other choice passed the rest of the field. Virtually a carbon copy of the Kings Bishop in 2016 when he burst onto the scene. I marveled and probably posted how could he get the lead from the outside post position without apparently going very fast?

Then the Breeders Cup Sprint against a legit SoCal sprinter, the favored Masochistic. Interestingly Drefong grabbed the lead after a 1/4m even tho the favorite won the start. They went 21.49. Masochistic with Mike Smith aboard got his head in front at the 1/2 mile call in 44.03. Masochistic was no match in the stretch and the rest of the field including the likes of Mind Your Biscuits, A.P Indian and Limousine Liberal pretty much ran in place through the finish line. Speedster Delta Bluesman got cooked in the 1st quarter mile.

My contention is that Drefong has superior gate speed which goes under publicized. That early early speed allows him to get position immediately and subsequently control the race with superior endurance.

Fast forward to 2017 Del Mar BC Sprint. EL Deal a frontrunner is out. I\'m suggesting the only way to possibly beat Drefong is to get to the lead early. Imperial Hint went sub :44 at Parx and kept going. I\'m thinking he earned a big TG#. Awesome Banner beat IH for 1/2m before the latter beat him by 4+ lengths. So as impressive as IH has been I suspect he does not have the gate speed of Drefong. For the NY fans we have Takaful who has run three top races in a row. A front runner that will surprise me if he can run early with IH & Drefong. I read a report that said Sharp Azteca went to the Mile to avoid Imperial Hint.

Lastly, I watched Drefong work with Mor Spirit. Drefong went so easy. Mor Spirit did not. I suggest something is sore in his back end. I don\'t think he will go in the dirt mile. I certainly wouldn\'t bet him.

BC Sprint looks like a two horse race to me.