Quote:
Originally Posted by GMB@BP
It feels to me like there is a large gap between Improbable and Game Winner to the rest of the California horses this year, this winner included. I would ship to avoid those two horses if I was a trainer there.
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Mucho Gusto was sent hard from the gate in the Los Alamitos Futurity and conveniently ended up taking out 3 of the 4 non-Baffert starters (Savagery, Extra Hope, Dueling) when coming in slightly into the first turn. Despite playing the "second stringer" in there, he did give Improbable some resistance up to the 1/16th pole.
Interestingly, Mucho Gusto is now the 3rd winner out of the Los Alamitos Futurity. Savagery, after getting fried in the Sham, wheeled back a week later and crushed by open lengths in a wet-fast allowance sprint. Extra Hope won a mile allowance race by open lengths on a sloppy track. The other 3 Los Al starters haven't run back.
In the Lewis Mucho Gusto showed a new dimension and was allowed to settle, finishing emphatically, which allays some of the fears that he's not a route-type.
