Can Strike Power route?
 

I'm going to write about him, but I'm conflicted.

Strike Power has a good route pedigree underneath, but when I watch him run my mind says no. He looked too good in his debut at 5.5 furlongs, and horses like that usually don't go too far. Not switching leads properly is a concern too.

I would think his best distances would be no longer than a mile but what do I know.

my pick for top 3 year old is TENFOLD and there is a good chance that he doesn't qualify for the Kentucky Derby.

That is a very confident statement about a horse that has only beaten maidens:headbanger::headbanger: I wish I was that confident about Justify but I need to see him race against good horses.

He'd be a surprise if he turned out to be a graded stakes router, but it'd be a good surprise. He certainly has the look of a sprinter. That short stride, the reliance on running the field off their feet and the footwork issues all draw his ability to stretch out against better horses into question.

He changes leads in his works. It's not out of the question that he could control a route pace without having to be as full-throttle as in his sprints. A best-case scenario could see him as a Hard Spun type who everyone calls a 'miler' but keeps contending in big races.

Until they can change his running style, he will have problems going long unless he can enter a race where he is the lone speed and gut one out, but his breeding suggests that he can run longer distances just not at 90 miles an hour. If he can learn to relax he may be like a Bluegrass Cat. Kind of even paced but can run all day. He is the type of horse I like to see make it to the Derby so as to guarantee a solid pace up front.

The thing that keeps hitting me is "one turn mile".

Here is what I came up with: https://www.horseracingnation.com/bl...n_of_Youth_123

It's a mostly negative blog post on Strike Power's route chances, but he hasn't tried yet, so we'll see.

As Robert wrote, it would be a surprise, but a good one.

Nice article. Interesting race to see who moves forward.

He's a Speightstown colt. That sire has produced some solid sprinters but not many routers. The AWD is 6.5F, second lowest of all horses entered in the FOY. The dosage line does look decent enough to suggest the horse should at least be okay in a two turn race.

Good stuff.

I like :8: Marconi. The Pletcher a bit, and the :1: He Takes Charge is a tad bit interesting.

Good Magic treated me kind on the BC Juvenile, so he is still gonna be my guy regardless. :ThmbUp:

LDH:

Not only Good Magic treated you well, man, you were totally EN Fuego that day. Lit it up like a Christmas Tree dipped in lighter fluid if I recall. :)

Ha. That was a lot of fun.

The sun shines on a dogs ass every now and again.:ThmbUp:

:):) I always say "The sun doesn't shine on the same dogs ass two days in a row". But, you get the idea... :lol:

You had a day indeed my friend. :)

Thanks.

It was truly an unbelievable experience. And the best was sharing it with all the folks around us. We all won.

Everybody should experience a day or two like that.

The 1,6,8 are my top selections. In which order I do not know yet.

After looking at Strike Power's last race again I am confident he can't get this distance and will fade but what do I know, lol.

:2: Free Drop Billy has scratched

That is a lot of dead money. :pout:

Amen to that brother... :)

His pedigree just barely qualifies him to stretch out - a 3.67 DI and a DP that ends in 1-0.

Looks like Strike Power is growing up. Physically he is said to of really filled out and had a nice work today. 4 in 47.87 1/27

I didn't like his FOY. The fractions were mild and he lost 1 1/4 lengths to the leader in the last 2.5F as the splits got slower. This is not the sign of a horse wanting more distance but it's a sample size of one and we will see more soon. He did have to run a little wide so he probably ran farther than the FOY winner. Speightstown colts have a paltry 6.6F average winning distance. They are better known for sprinting prowess but the winner's circle at routes is not rare. If he draws an outside post in the FL Derby then he's a toss from the exacta for me.