Smarty Jones vs Lawyer Ron

[BeatTheChalk]

They both look EXACTLY the same !! Both swept the OAK derby preps ...
right ? Exactly .. So why is there almost NO HYPE for the Lawyer :)
Well let's see .. Smarty was a cinderella horse. Family Owned and a
kind of rags to riches story. And the horse almost died as a yearling
etc etc ...
And then there was Charlie ..you know...Charlie Cella. Owner of OAK.
Been in the family for 1000 years. And of course Charlie put up a Million dollar ( or maybe only 1/2 million dollar prize .. my memory fades) for the horse who could win all of the preps at OAK...and Win the Kentucky Derby.
Bingo!! But today things are different. Charlie's grandson runs the
show. NO promo NO hype. Jes down home racin. Be a very interesting
Derby this time around.

[RXB]

They both look EXACTLY the same !! Both swept the OAK derby preps ...
right ? Exactly .. So why is there almost NO HYPE for the Lawyer :)
Well let's see .. Smarty was a cinderella horse. Family Owned and a
kind of rags to riches story. And the horse almost died as a yearling
etc etc ...
And then there was Charlie ..you know...Charlie Cella. Owner of OAK.
Been in the family for 1000 years. And of course Charlie put up a Million dollar ( or maybe only 1/2 million dollar prize .. my memory fades) for the horse who could win all of the preps at OAK...and Win the Kentucky Derby.
Bingo!! But today things are different. Charlie's grandson runs the
show. NO promo NO hype. Jes down home racin. Be a very interesting
Derby this time around.

Smarty ran several lengths faster than Lawyer Ron.

And, Smarty got a relatively easy pace scenario in the KD. No such luck for Lawyer Ron.

[JustRalph]

Smarty ran several lengths faster than Lawyer Ron.

And, Smarty got a relatively easy pace scenario in the KD. No such luck for Lawyer Ron.

Lawyer Ron has yet to crack his skull open on a gate either............

But, there is always two weeks from yesterday........

[kenwoodallpromos]

The bonus was just for the one year- some kind of anniversary offer.
Handle is up a bunch at OP this year.

[Bruddah]

It was Oaklawn's centennial (100) yr anniversary. That was a reason for the Bonus. Oaklawn was trying to promote itself as a track positioned favorably to producing Triple Crown contenders. It had been a few years since one had prepped there. Obviously, the bonus thing worked. In the end, it cost Oaklawn and Mr Cella nothing. However, they reaped much favorable press. A smart business move.

In comparing Lawyer Ron to Smarty Jones, there is no comparison. Just the time differentials in those three preps by those two horses, is indicative. While I think, Smarty was a good horse, I am inclined to think Afleet Alex will prove to be a Great horse, in time. (JMHO) :)

[Ron]

We all hate Lawyers and Smarties.

[Bruddah]

You are someone I can deal with. :D

[JimG]

The way Lawyer Ron was tugging up the rail on the backstretch when they were trying to rate him, I think he would better be compared to War Emblem than Smarty Jones.

Unlike the year War Emblem won the KY Derby, I would expect the early pace to be very fast in this years KY Derby.

[chrisg]

They both look EXACTLY the same !!

They're not.

[PaceAdvantage]

The way Lawyer Ron was tugging up the rail on the backstretch when they were trying to rate him, I think he would better be compared to War Emblem than Smarty Jones.

Which race? Not the Ark Derby....not the one I watched. What I saw on the rail on the turn was one Mr. John McKee SCRUBBING like mad on Lawyer Ron trying to get him out of a tight spot on the rail around the first turn. Did you not see this? Do you not think this was the cause of Lawyer Ron's eagerness down the backstretch?

Even the chart comment hints at this:

....in a bit tight in the first turn, accelerated up the inside to outrun TRAFFIC onto the backstretch....

Who do you think got him to accelerate like that to avoid trouble? When you push a horse like that so early in the race, you can throw all thoughts of rating out the window....don't blame the horse for this one....

[46zilzal]

Who do you think got him to accelerate like that to avoid trouble? When you push a horse like that so early in the race, you can throw all thoughts of rating out the window....don't blame the horse for this one....
That can really screw a horse up. Can recall Ack Ack was prepping for the Hollywood Gold Cup and Whittingham has JUST started to get him to relax . So what did they prep him in? a 5 furlong grass sprint! Shoe said all that work done getting him to rate was right out the window.

[classhandicapper]

The thing about LR is that he did look a little rank to me on occasion and even if it was the jock in his last start, that in itself could be a problem. He got away with that move in the Arkansas Derby because Steppenwolfer was behind him. If he tries somthing like that in the Derby, he'll have a tiger in front, on both sides, and behind him. It will be suicidal.

[OTM Al]

LR is a good horse with a very good foundation of work under him. I'm not sure what to think of the times/speed ratings in his OP races as opposed to what Smarty and Alex did. He may not be quite as good as they are, but then I think both of them were very good, Alex just missing in a flukey Derby and Smarty just missing after repelling 3 speed duels during the course of the Belmont. Time will tell I guess, but I'd much rather get beat with him on my ticket than leaving him off.

[Stevie Belmont]

I thought Mckee pushed the button to soon. He should have waited a bit more, that same tactic in Kentucky will be a disaster.

[Joe L.]

I know Smarty and I know Alex.... and Ron is no Smarty or Alex :ThmbDown:

[Princequillo]

It was Oaklawn's centennial (100) yr anniversary. That was a reason for the Bonus. Oaklawn was trying to promote itself as a track positioned favorably to producing Triple Crown contenders. It had been a few years since one had prepped there. Obviously, the bonus thing worked. In the end, it cost Oaklawn and Mr Cella nothing. However, they reaped much favorable press. A smart business move.

In comparing Lawyer Ron to Smarty Jones, there is no comparison. Just the time differentials in those three preps by those two horses, is indicative. While I think, Smarty was a good horse, I am inclined to think Afleet Alex will prove to be a Great horse, in time. (JMHO) :)

Alex will go down as the greatest horse who never won the HOY honor. What an unlucky runner. He lost the Derby because of a cuppy surface along the inside paths; the entire field went wide turning for home and Jeremy Rose took a chance. His retirement was caused when Scrappy T. clipped his left fore in the Preakness, causing the fractured cannon and his retirement before he could try the BC Classic. He will be remembered for his gliding, overpowering moves that froze his competition.

[RXB]

Afleet Alex, the greatest horse never to win HOY? :faint:

Um...

War Admiral
Gun Bow
Majestic Prince
Ruffian
Wajima
Exceller
Alydar
Slew O' Gold
Unbridled
Silver Charm
Awesome Again

Those are just a few off of the top of my head who rank above Afleet Alex. I'm sure there are plenty more.

[RXB]

Whoops, War Admiral did win it. Okay, I'll replace him with Easy Goer.

[RXB]

Thought of a few more:

Noor
Gallant Man
Carry Back
Riva Ridge
Lure

[Joe L.]

Alex will go down as the greatest horse who never won the HOY honor. What an unlucky runner. He lost the Derby because of a cuppy surface along the inside paths; the entire field went wide turning for home and Jeremy Rose took a chance. [His retirement was caused when Scrappy T. clipped his left fore in the Preakness], causing the fractured cannon and his retirement before he could try the BC Classic. He will be remembered for his gliding, overpowering moves that froze his competition.
Afleet Alex will almost certainly always be remebered for his STUNNING Preakness performance :ThmbUp:

[cj]

...His retirement was caused when Scrappy T. clipped his left fore in the Preakness, causing the fractured cannon and his retirement before he could try the BC Classic...

I would seriously doubt this injury happened in the Preakness, if it even was a real injury. Sure didn't seem to bother him three weeks later in the Belmont or when he was working extremely fast leading up to the BC Classic.

[JPinMaryland]

He lost the Derby because of a cuppy surface along the inside paths; the entire field went wide turning for home and Jeremy Rose took a chance..

This is interesting. I am not sure how often it happens at CD but it seems once in awhile the inner path is soft and the outside lanes are rocket strips. I think Grindstone was way out there in the 5th or 6th path a finish similar to Needles/Fabius. Little Current made up like 15 lengths in a losing effort from that path.

And then there is Proud Clarion vs Damascus, Damascus just hangs fire or something. I think that is where the "spectacular bid" phrase comes from.

Is this some odd quirk in the CD track, or just my imagination? The track appeared to be playing like that for much of the day in 2005.

[Valuist]

Lawyer Ron is now favored at Pinnacle.

BTW, its not an odd quirk. Its called a dead rail.

[BeatTheChalk]

Quote:
Originally Posted by BeatTheChalk
They both look EXACTLY the same !!



They're not. ( posted by Chris ) ... MY answer....

are too.

[Shamin2nd]

Lawyer Ron's performances have been visually impressive... Have not been impressed with his competition (he's basically faced the same foes in all his OP races) judging by THEIR prior performances... Before he started this merry-go-round with Steppenwolfer, Private Vow and Red Raymond, none of them had faced much in 2006 or have been overly impressive. LR smoking a 5 horse field at EvD or Steppenwolfer's narrow win in an optional claimer just isnt doing it for me...

As far as the early move in the Arkansas Derby, McKee did try and move up, but then he lost the horse heading down the backstretch... Don't see how he's going to do all the maneuvering its going to take to win this years KD with no more control than that...

Regardless, if you like Lawyer Ron you have to bet Steppenwolfer... SW was rolling in the AR DERBY and got blocked right before the top of the stretch... If it weren't for that he may have won it... He definately outruns Lawyer Ron in the Ky Derby...

[bettheoverlay]

The Bris Prime Power #s have Lawyer Ron on top, with Keyed Entry within 2 pts and 8 others within 10 pts. Very small gaps for these #s, as it was last year. The #s have done well in recent years (though not Giacomo).

For the life of me, though, I can't understand how Lawyer Ron gets the top fig, as other horses have higher figs in the various proprietary categories. God bless Bris's precious algorythims, they're often a mystery to me.

Sweetnorthernsaint and Brother Derek come in with 3 plus 100 speed figures with SSN #s dwarfing even BDs. I can't recall a KD contender having such consistently high Bris speed figs before. His late pace of 121 is also significant, 120+ is often dynamite on turf and when stretching to longer distances on dirt.

[KingChas]

"John Servis, who trained Smarty Jones, has a very good set of eyes.
He has been watching Lawyer Ron all year at Oaklawn Park.
I think hes a beast, Servis said. He reminds me of Smarty Jones.After Servis watched Brother Derek dominate the Santa Anita
Derby on April 8, a colleague marveled at how impressed he was
with the race. He wanted to know if Servis was as impressed.
Not really, Servis told him.Did you watch Lawyer Ron work
this morning? That was impressive."

Straight from the horses........er... trainers mouth! :D