Quote:
Originally Posted by Spalding No!
I don't know how much speed relief he's really getting. Patternrecognition will be on or near the lead after several extended sprints this summer. True Timber is stretching out to a mile after several sprints and has flashed speed in his two-turn tries. Copper Town, off a long layoff last out, broke poorly but advanced to the front as soon as he recovered--he set fast paces in his races at a mile or more last year.
It's probably moot since Mendelssohn has drawn the rail, but given his modicum of stamina in longer races (he usually only caves in the final 1/16th), he might be better served with a stalking trip. He was fried when facing sprint speed in the one-turn mile Dwyer in the summer. He has a router's early speed--geared towards controlling the pace, not outgunning everything else--but this race might lean towards some sprint speed.
Ryan Moore worked out a similar trip for him in the BC Juvenile Turf way back when, and he broke from the rail that day, too.
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Pattern Recognition and True Timber aren't up to the task. Non factors.
Yea, if Copper Town is blazing on a mission, you'd prefer Mendelssohn cruise along off of him and not lock into some all out duel, but it's not like Mendelssohn is going to have to fight for position out of the gate. This Mile at Aqueduct doesn't call for that, especially in this field.
Just break, and cruise near the lead and try to go on.
I've bet against Mendelssohn in 5 straight races, and it's been good to me. Today he's a player.
