Haskel

[Silver Charm]

After working so well yesterday Bob Baffert has called an audible and now is sending Power Broker there instead of the West Virgina Derby. Obviously the prestige is signficantly better but what about the competition.

I am very curious to see what Verzanno does. After creating a splash when he won by 16 at GP in Feb, this one has been given kid glove treatment. If the Derby was a non-effort then why not the Preakness two weeks later? He hasnt really been pushed or rushed. Might learn something here on Haskel Day. Not really any excuses in terms of the distance, timing and rest!!

[TGJB]

So, why is Repole running his horse there rather than Saratoga...  hmmm?

[Silver Charm]

I agree with that thinking and as bad as Power Broker dusted Micromanage in the Easy Goer maybe Repole calls an audible.....I seriously doubt it but.

Back to Verazanno I seem to remember at one point there being a discussion over how many Triple Crown races he might win. Somebody set an Over/Under and then horse barely ran in one. The Wood was supposed to a race where The Jock toyed with the others....and then the The Jock actually did stick with the horse jumping off the eventual Derby Winner.

Confusing enough as it is. I see NO EXCUSES for this horse this weekend. Its been almost 6 mths since that -2 at GP and this horse has received spacing all spring like he was......what?

[covelj70]

Silver, need to see what this creature looks like, then we will know the deal.

He looked like Pegasus reincarnated early in the winter but had really taken a step back in physical appearance by the time the Classics rolled around.

I will be there on Saturday so if I am able to get a good view of him in the paddock, I will try to throw something up on the board but it wouldn\'t be until right before post.

hope you are good buddy!

[TGJB]

Seems to me that for Repole to leave Saratoga he\'s gotta be scared of Palace Malice or not scared of Verazzano, or, Pletcher thinks he\'ll run better at Monmouth,which is freakin Dodge City right now. Which is not good for Palace Malice\'s chances.

Jim Dandy is likely to be ROTW.

[Silver Charm]

Cove thanks for the kind words and thanks for doing that for the rest of us. I will either be a version of Walt Disney down here or sweeping cigarette butts off the ground at Disney with what Im trying. We will see.....

Outside chance my friends horse Bellarmine may be in on the Dandy Card. I dont know anything. My friends pulled a Covello Fantasy Trip the day of the Virginia Derby. Saw Bellarmine work at 7:30AM that morning at CD. Drove to Keeneland and looked at some horses at the July Fasig Tipton they ended up buying the next week and then drove on over to Colonial Downs for the Virginia Derby to see War Dancer run and win.

The ROTW pretty much nailed it for that race as most of the Owners were NOT sure about the distance that day and the Trainer and Asst were like \"no problem\". Its on to the Secretariat next at Arlington on Million Day even with the main owner being a Saratoga guy. Outside chance Olympic Thunder goes there with him to run in the Hatoof. Keep an eye on him. Summer Racing and gambling is about to get REAL serious again.

[Rick B.]

TGJB Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Pletcher thinks he\'ll run better at Monmouth,
> which is freakin Dodge City right now.

Funny that you mention this, because suddenly (last 2 or
3 weeks), SuperWonderBoy trainer Moya has gone stone cold,
eking out some meaningless 2nds and 3rds, but no wins and
almost certainly no jump ups.

What, did the guy get religion? Or did he simply run all
his stock into the ground?

[shanahan]

Rick B. Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> TGJB Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Pletcher thinks he\'ll run better at Monmouth,
> > which is freakin Dodge City right now.
>
> Funny that you mention this, because suddenly
> (last 2 or
> 3 weeks), SuperWonderBoy trainer Moya has gone
> stone cold,
> eking out some meaningless 2nds and 3rds, but no
> wins and
> almost certainly no jump ups.
>
> What, did the guy get religion? Or did he simply
> run all
> his stock into the
Deleted

[jma11473]

Moya\'s streaky. Earlier in the year he went cold for a while at Parx too after having a crazy hot streak.

Looking forward to Covello\'s on-track reports.

[TreadHead]

I am still squarely of the opinion that Verrazano is the most talented horse of this crop, when at his best.  The obvious question now is, how often can he be at his best, or even worse, did he peak in Feb with form he won\'t ever get back to.

I incorrectly assumed this spring that he would be able to get back to his Feb form by Derby time, and perhaps that was an indication that he won\'t ever be able to do that again.  I don\'t have the benefit of the in-person evaluations Covello gets, but as you mentioned, even the jock and agent thought he was the most talented horse.  He just was not back into form during the Derby timeframe for whatever reason.

I do agree with you that there are zero excuses here on Sat.  With the speed-favoring strip and the amt of rest he has had, plus showing a decent (if not easy) race over the strip already, there is no excuse (maybe short of slop, if he really doesn\'t enjoy it?) for him to not get back to his best unless there is a long-term issue.

If he fails, it doesn\'t mean he wasn\'t a great horse during the winter.  It just means that he was not able to sustain the greatness for more than a couple months, which makes him much less durable than even the fragile types we see in abundance these days.  It is what it is.

[drpete]

Moya barn was raided two weeks ago, blood samples taken from every horse is the backstretch buzz here at Mth.

[rob]

Moya won race 6 this past Saturday. So much for him not winning a race in the last 2-3 weeks....... Just saying

All the best

[P-Dub]

TreadHead Wrote:
------------------------------------------------------
>
> If he fails, it doesn\'t mean he wasn\'t a great
> horse during the winter.  It just means that he
> was not able to sustain the greatness for more
> than a couple months, which makes him much less
> durable than even the fragile types we see in
> abundance these days.  It is what it is.

\"Great\" horse??

He isn\'t or wasn\'t \"great\".  He ran really fast a few times, and won a few 3YO stakes races. Did nothing in the TC races.

That\'s not my idea of a \"great\" horse.  Talented?? Sure. But the word great is tossed around far too often.

[FrankD.]

Paul,

I hope all is well on the left coast.

Please put the proper disclaimer on GREAT when you mention a Pletcher horse.
A great Pletcher horse runs an unbelievable fast figure early on; particularly at Gulfstream in the winter via the magical waters at Palm Meadows. They seldom duplicate the big figure and are retired before the end of their 3 yr old season.

Now that\'s GREAT!!!

Good luck and someone please have bail money as Richiebee comes to town for a 4 day Spa fix.

Frank D.

[Rick B.]

rob Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Moya won race 6 this past Saturday. So much for
> him not winning a race in the last 2-3
> weeks....... Just saying
>
> All the best

You are correct, forgot about that one. At a $6.20
mutuel, this one win was no surprise.

Still...1 for the last 20 starts didn\'t get this guy
to the 40% win rate he was sporting earlier this year.
The bigger point is, the guy went freezing cold at a
place thought to be wide open for sudden performance
improvements.