Promising 4-year-old Maiden

[dnlgfnk]

The 4-year-old filly Rock And Glory makes her debut in today's Mdn/ 6.5f/ turf opener at Santa Anita. She would seem to be well regarded, being sired by Rock Hard Ten and out of the G2 winner Brooke's Halo, while 5-2 on the morning line.

When a stable waits (or purchases relatively late) until the 4-year-old year to race such a promising filly, would the reason be anything other than a physical issue?

[cj]

The 4-year-old filly Rock And Glory makes her debut in today's Mdn/ 6.5f/ turf opener at Santa Anita. She would seem to be well regarded, being sired by Rock Hard Ten and out of the G2 winner Brooke's Halo, while 5-2 on the morning line.

When a stable waits (or purchases relatively late) until the 4-year-old year to race such a promising filly, would the reason be anything other than a physical issue?

I can't think of one. Personally, I view debuting in a turf sprint as a negative.

[JBmadera]

a number of positives as well as some challenges: very nice PED, super work tab, plus Rosario but the trainer is 0-19 with firsters and 0-10 first on turf. probably a wait and see since she's going to be a pretty short price.

perhaps she's got some issues with her hooves, given the first start on turf.

[toussaud]

I can't think of one. Personally, I view debuting in a turf sprint as a negative.
i feel that way about turf routs but not turf sprints.

rock hard ten is a very turfish sire so far. she probably is just better on turf than dirt. and they are putting her in a sprint which means she is SOMETHING in the morning.

usually it's injuries. some very good horses debuted quite late. Assuming she is ready to go TODAY, i don't see it being a problem. she might not be the most sound horse on the planet but that does not mean she is a bad race mare.

Actually, this is a pretty good angle of mine. I theory that horses that have injury issues like this are more likely to not be "raced back into shape" beucase there is always the rub that there might not be 2-3 races to get them in shape. when they DO decide to run a horse like this that is often out for long periods of time, they usually are ready to roll out the box. look at rail trip. his best races are almost always after a long layoff.

[Cardus]

I can't think of one. Personally, I view debuting in a turf sprint as a negative.

Toussaud and I await your explanation.

[cj]

i feel that way about turf routs but not turf sprints.

rock hard ten is a very turfish sire so far. she probably is just better on turf than dirt. and they are putting her in a sprint which means she is SOMETHING in the morning.

usually it's injuries. some very good horses debuted quite late. Assuming she is ready to go TODAY, i don't see it being a problem. she might not be the most sound horse on the planet but that does not mean she is a bad race mare.

Actually, this is a pretty good angle of mine. I theory that horses that have injury issues like this are more likely to not be "raced back into shape" beucase there is always the rub that there might not be 2-3 races to get them in shape. when they DO decide to run a horse like this that is often out for long periods of time, they usually are ready to roll out the box. look at rail trip. his best races are almost always after a long layoff.

Turf sprinting, in this country, is the least lucrative by far of all divisions. If you are debuting here, you are either giving up, or you aren't really trying to win, just get exercise. Who goes in hoping there horse will be a turf sprint star?

[Tom]

Linda Rice?

[PhantomOnTour]

The title of this thread is an oxymoron.

[johnhannibalsmith]

Linda Rice?


http://members.multimania.co.uk/gameshowpage/MG/geneface.jpg

[dnlgfnk]

The title of this thread is an oxymoron.

Possibly. Perhaps "once promising" would satisfy you, but I think most grasped the gist.

[toussaud]

Turf sprinting, in this country, is the least lucrative by far of all divisions. If you are debuting here, you are either giving up, or you aren't really trying to win, just get exercise. Who goes in hoping there horse will be a turf sprint star?
if you are turf sprinting at santa anita that means you have some serious speed r are showing some serious speed. they don't play around on that turf course.


you are throwing the baby outwith the bathwater on this one here. I ma not saying the horse is a star by any stretch, but throwing a rock hard ten out because it's starting first time on turf.. that's just overkill . that's what they do. that's like throwing out a danehill because it' starting first time turf.

[JustRalph]

ran 3rd about 5L behind.

Broke slow.........from the chart..........didn't see the race

[cj]

if you are turf sprinting at santa anita that means you have some serious speed r are showing some serious speed. they don't play around on that turf course.


you are throwing the baby outwith the bathwater on this one here. I ma not saying the horse is a star by any stretch, but throwing a rock hard ten out because it's starting first time on turf.. that's just overkill . that's what they do. that's like throwing out a danehill because it' starting first time turf.

If the horse is going to be bet like this one, I'll toss them every time. It worked out pretty well for me in the past, and did here. As for the serious speed thing, I think you are just off base there. There is a reason they run so fast on that course, surely you know that.

[Tom]

They do run those 6.5T races fast.
Why, it's almost like they were running downhill.

[Robert Fischer]

They do run those 6.5T races fast.
Why, it's almost like they were running downhill.

lol


A lot of times trainers will use that race with a new horse (and off layoffs) to "put some speed into the horse"[running in a sprint near the pace early in a form cycle for the purpose of developing speed].
The fact that Rosario was up shows the field was weak and that they felt it had a chance(further emphasized by the betting odds).
They DID put some speed into the horse whether that was the main goal or a secondary goal.

Now you can see the horse gradually dropped into claimers on a flat ground of either surface, and he showed enough and got enough out of the race that he can win.

With these purses, and the horse's real talent level, they should just drop and win/claim now. However the actual path could obviously vary.

Could see him run back in the 6.5... Sometimes you see that a few times to start out and get the horse running. Could see a number of things hoping the horse turns into an allowance horse, but like I said it looks like it could be a claimer.