Another impressive win this past weekend for Beholder. Dick Mandella has been a BC powerhouse.  Any chance this mare can win the BC Classic? I have not seen her Sheet numbers but assume she gets a little pull in the weights.

magicnight: I believe Beholder will get 3 from the 4yo & older colts (who carry 126) and will give 2 to the 3yo colts.

ringato3: Ace,

Why wouldn\'t she have a chance?  She is fast enough to win on anybody\'s speed figures, including her TG #\'s.  Even without the pull in weight (which she won\'t get from AP, she will give him 2 lbs).

If the race were in California I would make her the favorite.  She hasn\'t shown she can ship and run as well, which she has to do.  If you watched any of the second tier preps for the BC Classic this weekend in SAnta Anita and Kentucky, you certainly can\'t make ANY of those horses contenders.  Top 3 choices will likely be AP, Honor Code and Beholder, likely in that order.  

Sure as hell makes the race even more interesting than it already would be if the mare runs.

Rob

mjellish: I don\'t have her pp in front of me, but didn\'t she win the BC Distaff at Churchill when Royal Delta left her race on the training track?  Point being she has shipped and won, to KY, for the BC.

hooper: In her only two starts outside of California Beholder ran second in the 2013 Ky Oaks and fourth in the 2014 Ogden Phipps at Belmont.

miff: Beholder has a race two back vs males that would make her tough,most of her other races would not,those vs mares.As to her big win two back, it\'s the only reason to consider her,imo.Prefer her racing in Cali.

A nasty bunch awaits her and a key will be if TAP decides to enter Liam\'s Map(50-50 chance)to ensure an honest pace.Couple of Classic contenders go this weekend in their final preps.Should Honor Code and Tonalist run big, the Classic will come up the best in a long while with several sporting multiple neg TG/high speed figures for players to consider.

Interesting to see if the AP hype has subsided or persists and carries him to the role of favorite,not certain it will.

mjellish: So i\'m remembering that wrong?  I remember there was a pretty strong speed bias that day at that track, whichever one it was.

Topcat: mjellish Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I don\'t have her pp in front of me, but didn\'t she
> win the BC Distaff at Churchill when Royal Delta
> left her race on the training track?  Point being
> she has shipped and won, to KY, for the BC.


Yeah, RD was \'way over the top.   You could detect it, beforehand . . . certainly, in the post parade for the race in question.

jbelfior: Smart move by Shugs to prep Honor Code in a 1 turn mile instead of the 1 1/4 JCGC.

Regarding the Classic: We\'ll be posting for weeks on this one.


Good Luck,
Joe B.

ruthlessman: Smart? Please explain.

miff: Honor Code\'s distance capability not yet answered. Thought he was fortunate to beat Liam\'s Map in the 9f Whitney,his kick wasn\'t as strong as his mile races, 10f Classic?

ruthlessman: And what questions will be answered after running a mile?

ringato3: Mike,

If he runs, AP is gonna be the favorite.  Would bet my last dollar on that.

As for whether he will win, much tougher question.  If Liam\'s Map runs, AP is a toss for me.  If Liam\'s Map doesn\'t run, AP gonna be tough to beat.

Not an Honor Code guy at all.  Think he got beautiful ride on closer\'s track to cost me a huge score when he beat Liam\'s Map.  (yep - still bitter).  Agree with your comment, re:distance.

Rob

miff: \"If he runs, AP is gonna be the favorite. Would bet my last dollar on that\"

Rob,

I\'m only 95% on AP being favorite.Figure wise, he has no edge at all over this group,faces the fastest group of his career.Would pay close attention to press coverage of how he is training up. Only say that on the basis of his somewhat tarnished halo from Travers loss.

Mike

Silver Charm: She was coming into the Kentucky Oaks off a decent layoff and ran a great race nearly winning. When she ran in the Phipps Im not sure she was 100% right, but they had committed to it, it was Belmont Triple Crown Day and she was the reigning defending champion. So they ran anyway. She went on a pretty long break again after that and passed on the Breeders Cup Distaff won by Untappable.

Mandella is better than pretty good and for him to now begin firing shots like this has to make one think he knows something now about his mare that he wasn\'t seeing before.