Lava Man Preps or Retirement??

[michiken]

After watching Lava Man finish last on the turf today, it leaves me with two thoughts:

a. Lava Man should retire.

b. Are the connections using the the Delmar Poly and today's turf to provide a series of conditioning races for the Breeders Cup? Do they think he will run better when switching back to Monmouth Dirt?

Thoughts?

[Robert Fischer]

one of my handicapping partners commented on his choice of the 1mile turf today over the 9 furlong goodwood? that Tiago edged Awesome Gem in , as a sign that he couldn't get it done anymore. I kind of thought that the old warrior just had his form thrown off by a tiring surface in the Pac classic. It is evident that he needs a couple months off. If he comes back in '08, I think he can still run a little in the right situation (Cali. weak field hollywood cushion).

[Ron]

Is there any reason to retire Lava Man?

[joeyreb]

they should lay him off until 08 point him to the Big Cap and race him lightly aim for the BC in 08 @ Santa Anita

They raced him too hard and too soon after the Dubai trip

The Whittingham was a hard beat that he left alot on the turf that day and heart won him the Hollywood Gold Cup. It's question when he had a hoof injury before or after the Del Mar PC

heathly or not... The Mile distance isn't really the best for him. None of the his previous numbers, EVEN the 06 numbers put him on Top at the Mile Distance in my Pace and Energy program. Zann had the best numbers at the mile Distance.

I played Zann and Get Funky and boxed them with Out of Control. I thought the Mile distance was too for Out of Control

[classhandicapper]

Is there any reason to retire Lava Man?

I don't think he has any major physical issues. So the only reasons to retire him are to avoid embarassment and keep his dignity. (not unreasonable reasons)

He's better on dirt than either turf or synthetic surfaces, but he was so bad yesterday it's pretty clear he needs a rest if they want to bring him back. If I owned him and wanted to race him again, I would take him somewhere he could get both Lasix and Bute. Then I would train and race him on that circuit. There's nothing left for him in CA with all the synthetics. There's got to be some chance if they actually moved him and trained on another circuit he would not need to be in CA to race his best and could still win some decent second string stakes on dirt.

IMO, he was always underrated by "numbers" oriented handicappers and overrated by the general public. At his best, he ran some huge races, accomplished some things that no other horse before him could, and raced at a high level for very long time. It would be sad to see him go out badly.