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Originally Posted by classhandicapper
He had a foot problem prior to the Derby. That was public.
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That's what they said publicly anyways...
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They tried to get him going again in the Preakness. It was a question mark in my mind as to how he was going to run coming off a physical problem.
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He had a bullet work within a week of the Kentucky Derby. He lost nearly no time. He simply skipped a tough race, which is often an advantage in the Preakness (at least when it was 2 weeks after the Derby).
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Since he disappointed, I think it would have been borderline insanity to run him in the Classic no matter what given he had just run poorly and hadn't even proven himself as competitive against the best 3yos yet.
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Art Collector buried Swiss Skydiver in the Blue Grass as well as Rushie who came back to win emphatically on the Derby undercard. It wasn't insane for Hollywood Gold Cup winner Blushing John to run in the BC Classic after getting beat 20 lengths in the Meadowlands Cup, nor California Chrome after getting crushed in the Pennsylvania Derby, nor American Pharoah after getting dusted in the Travers, nor A.P. Indy after losing 2 straight, nor Unbridled after getting trounced by stablemates at odds-on in 2 straight, nor Tiznow, nor Cat Thief, nor Flower Alley, nor Thirty Six Red, etc...
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So they went for the softer spot. As long as he was fit and past that foot issue I have no problem with any of that.
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That's cutting it too fine in my opinion. Either he was in form or he was not. If he wasn't up to snuff for the Classic why would he be in competitive form for the Dirt Mile even if was a softer spot?
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Either way, I don't think he's running quite as well now as he was prior to the foot problem.
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"Quite as well"? That's the understatement of the year.
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So either bleeding is a legitimate excuse or he's a horses that got sharp for a few races and now tailed off. The other possibility is that chasing a much faster and better horse like Knicks Go was a tougher trip than it looked.
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Or maybe he simply didn't progress...like Tacitus.
