racing 3yo's with older horse's

[huck]

I was looking for some feedback. I have a small interest in a nice 3yo, who was injured earlier this year chasing Lost in the Fog, horse is Straight Line. He is working super and they tell me he is as good as he ever has been. Problem is there are no races in the midwest for him to return too. He is basically out of conditions and no real luck getting anything written for him. But he needs to race. So he is double entered on Sat. at Arlington. One race is small stakes for 3yo\'s on the grass. 2nd race is for 3 and up on dirt,this drew all older horses including Apt to Be who I believe used to run zeros. I am not thrilled with either spot. My question is which is more of a negative going forward. Turf for first time,but racing with 3yo, or racing against a fast 8 yo. I wonder if horses get discouraged racing against older or if they rise to occasion and know no difference. Also, will prepping with a grass race be a negative. I appreciate any thoughts, I have been debating this with people that don\'t use sheets and am curious to hear some other opinions.

[gvido]

I bet Straight Line in the Swale! Thought he had an excellent shot to fill the exacta

Nothing to think about. Keep him with the 3yo\'s for the time being. That condition, optional claimer nw3ot is written fairly often, no? SL only receives a 4# break in the weights and why slug it out vs tuff older when weaker 3yo\'s await! ;-)

Straight Line has some nice turf breeding in his pedigree and experimenting here isn\'t a bad idea. http://www.pedigreequery.com/straight+line5   He\'ll get a break in the weights to boot. [You can also do a rain dance, scattered t-storms Saturday, LOL]

SL had a nice 2yo line working down to a 3.5 and that number is likely best of the entrants [not that dirt/turf numbers are interchangeable].

Turf to dirt is a nice return angle for some trainers [Harvey\'s stats weren\'t listed in SL\'s Swale sheet] Perhaps you guys discover a budding turf star!

Good luck!

[shanahan]

could not agree more with gvido\'s take on straight line...stay with the 3 yr olds...looks like a bit of a soft turf wouln\'t hurt either with those b-lines.
Gvido - thanks for the link as well...

\"bunky\"

[JJP]

I\'ll play Devil\'s Advocate here.  I see some advantages to staying on the dirt.  Apt to Be, at his best, is very tough.  But he\'s 8YO now and wasn\'t as good last year as in his younger days.  Keepitinthebag is a solid horse but seems much better at Hawthorne than AP.  Other than that, the field doesn\'t look tough at all.  Straight Line is 7-2 in that 9 horse field.  In the grass race, you have a SW on grass in Exceptional Ride plus stakes placed on turf Cosmic Kris.  Kid Grindstone has won twice on turf and just beat Cosmic Kris.  Three Hour Nap, the winner of the Arl-Wash Futurity last year, is making his turf debut for Robertson.  Ready Ruler was staked placed on turf last fall in Kentucky and Raving Rocket is yet another SW making his turf bow.  I\'d stay on the dirt.

[huck]

I appreciate the response. As I mentioned,not at all thrilled with either spot.  Concensus is to stay on dirt among connections. I\'m on the fence and see both sides. All I care about is going forward, so I hope running with older horses doesn\'t turn into a negative. But the horsemen,which I am not, said not to worry. We shall see.

[JJP]

Huck-

Good luck and I\'ll be rooting for you.  I love the lone 3YO in a race angle.  I also don\'t think there\'s much speed in there.  Fiery Diablo is in but he\'s part of an entry and could scratch out.  I think SL will be tough.

[shanahan]

SL - Harvey Vanier your TR?