Shackleford

[Tom]

Taking an easy one today?
New distance and off track....

Justin Phillip - won in mud, in the $ at Toga, Assmusen.....on a roll this weekend.
Is 5-1 worth a bet?

[Tom]

Sweating a photo for place - got 1W3P on him, longshot wins it....could be a good day.....

[tzipi]

Didn't get out well at all.

[Tom]

Del Mar 3 - bet Peter Miller wished he had worn his BROWN suit today! :eek:

[jognlope]

When I saw him swishing his tail during saddling, I knew he was in a mood. Plus not his distance I guess.

[duncan04]

The distance and wet track did not favor Shackleford. Now 0 for 3 on wet tracks.

[MaTH716]

The distance and wet track did not favor Shackleford. Now 0 for 3 on wet tracks.

He didn't seem to break that sharply either.

[Robert Fischer]

Romans was something like 1 for 21 so far @ Saratoga coming into today..

[nijinski]

Shack has the studdish look going . I'd love to see him in person to see if it's
just the angles of the photos I've seen . He looked a little thick in the neck .

He's really fit and gorgeous otherwise , but looks like a handful.

[Pine Tree Lane]

The distance and wet track did not favor Shackleford. Now 0 for 3 on wet tracks.

Maybe he doesn't like the track. He's 0-2 beaten a total of 31 lengths in his two starts up there.

[1GCFAN]

Yes, he looked like a million dollars in the paddock but just didn't run. I thought me might not win but to be off the board was surprise.

[pele polo]

The distance and wet track did not favor Shackleford. Now 0 for 3 on wet tracks.

I usually dont believe in that type or theory for a horse of his caliber but he's a big horse with a heavy head so possibly so.

[burnsy]

Didn't get out well at all.
cut backs are alright, but when a horse like this goes back to 6 furlongs..i kind of had to wonder, hes not going to beat some of these horses at the gate like he does in the longer races and i've never seen this horse run well unless hes prominent...throw in the wet track and he was done from step one. of course it did not help me because i got headed by a 33-1 shot.....but the original poster was right. that was an easy one, maybe its just a prep but i don't think that was a great spot for shackleford. he probably would of been better suited for the whitney. it was a harder race but i bet he would of run better in that. shackleford is quick but hes not 21 and change material...he ran against a whole different kind of animal this time.

[Valuist]

I usually dont believe in that type or theory for a horse of his caliber but he's a big horse with a heavy head so possibly so.

I think it is almost certainly so.

Having said that, we may have to re-visit that 115 Beyer that was given to both him and Caleb's Posse. Not saying it was impossible for either of them but it could be a bit inflated.

[cj]

I think it is almost certainly so.

Having said that, we may have to re-visit that 115 Beyer that was given to both him and Caleb's Posse. Not saying it was impossible for either of them but it could be a bit inflated.

I think the figure is fine. Shack was running a different distance coming off more than two months without racing. He was in the prime of his form cycle for the Met at a distance more to his liking.

[GMB@BP]

For me personally I am not a big fan of front end routers cutting back, much prefer mid to late closers cutting back. I like them even less coming out of the 1 hole.

Most handicappers were picking against Shackelford this past weekend and it really had little to do with the quality of the horse.

[PhantomOnTour]

Shack cutting back to 6f is the same problem that Vosburgh runners used to face in the BC Sprint...the 6f pace is just too quick for longer distance runners to stay close to and still have something left.
The Vosburgh is now a 6f race

[cj]

For me personally I am not a big fan of front end routers cutting back, much prefer mid to late closers cutting back. I like them even less coming out of the 1 hole.

Most handicappers were picking against Shackelford this past weekend and it really had little to do with the quality of the horse.

You like closers in routes cutting back to a sprint? Good luck with those. On dirt, I can't think of a much worse bet in all of racing.

[GMB@BP]

You like closers in routes cutting back to a sprint? Good luck with those. On dirt, I can't think of a much worse bet in all of racing.

I like the fact they get more pace and generally go off at a bigger number. I am not talking plodders here but horses who make a bid routing that come up short and look like they just ran out of distance.

[horses4courses]

Shack stays at home to run his final race in the Clark H'cap Friday at CD.
He's a gamer, and has had a good career :ThmbUp:

http://www.drf.com/news/churchill-downs-shackleford-staying-home-clark

[MickJ26]

It's nice that this guy goes out on top. He looked like a three year old again out there.

[duncan04]

So happy he went out a winner with his regular rider Jesus Castanon aboard

[RXB]

Interestingly, the fractions might seem nominally pedestrian but the way the leaders got swallowed in the other dirt races I'd say Shackleford ran better than some people will think-- not unlike his Derby performance at the same track on a similarly challenging day for frontrunners.

I boxed 4-5-7 and only the 4 lifted his feet from those three. :ThmbDown:

[iceknight]

I am really happy for Shackleford to win with Castanon on board, but I cannot believe none of the other horses put any pressure on him in the opening half. The jockey kept turning and looking at least 3-4 times. Which really is a luxury in a Gr 1 race! Of course, since he was the leader he managed strategy excellently. had the fractions been faster, bourbon courage would have had a better shot!