Battle of Midway VS Arms Runner

[jocko699]

Saturday in the Affirmed at SA. I am very high on Arms Runner and this is the test to see if I was right.

[Robert Fischer]

Should be a good race.

Battle of Midway is just shy of being a star horse.
Arms Runner seems like he can run a big one with a good trip and full momentum.

If this were the Travers, I'd much prefer Battle of Midway at this point.

In a 5 horse field, going 8.5 furlongs, some of those qualities that Battle of Midway used to overachieve in the Santa Anita Derby, and Kentucky Derby are moot. This race should go to the 'fastest' horse.

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by Robert Fischer

Should be a good race.

Battle of Midway is just shy of being a star horse.
Arms Runner seems like he can run a big one with a good trip and full momentum.

If this were the Travers, I'd much prefer Battle of Midway at this point.

In a 5 horse field, going 8.5 furlongs, some of those qualities that Battle of Midway used to overachieve in the Santa Anita Derby, and Kentucky Derby are moot. This race should go to the 'fastest' horse.

Good points. If Arms Runner clears B Squared he may get his way but he is still a target for BOM. Either way this could be a key race for further endeavors for both.

I believe fair odds are 3-5 on BOM and 5-2 on Arms Runner.

[jocko699]

Oh well. I wonder how much money will be bet on Battle of Midway to place now that it is a 4-horse field?

[elhelmete]

Bullshit scratch.

[Fager Fan]

These fields in CA make for a lot of mirages. One decent horse in the field I guess is what keeps CA with their graded status. That time didn't look too hot.

[Fager Fan]

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

These fields in CA make for a lot of mirages. One decent horse in the field I guess is what keeps CA with their graded status. That time didn't look too hot.

Collected just won at the same distance 1 4/5 seconds faster.

[Robert Fischer]

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

These fields in CA make for a lot of mirages. One decent horse in the field I guess is what keeps CA with their graded status. That time didn't look too hot.

both of those stakes fields were disgraceful.

5 horses in both fields suggests incompetence of the race secretary.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Robert Fischer

both of those stakes fields were disgraceful.

5 horses in both fields suggests incompetence of the race secretary.

Agree completely. It should have been one race. There is no reason 3yos can't compete against 4yos at this time of year.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by cj

Agree completely. It should have been one race. There is no reason 3yos can't compete against 4yos at this time of year.

Trainers are too obsessed with weight. Collected would have had to go into the 130s and trainers just won't do that. In the old days you could have just taken tons of weight off of the 3yos but most jocks in Cali can't make 110 or 112 anymore.

[cj]

Originally Posted by ronsmac

Trainers are too obsessed with weight. Collected would have had to go into the 130s and trainers just won't do that. In the old days you could have just taken tons of weight off of the 3yos but most jocks in Cali can't make 110 or 112 anymore.

Then you cancel the races. Racing secretaries have to stop catering only to horsemen.

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by cj

Agree completely. It should have been one race. There is no reason 3yos can't compete against 4yos at this time of year.

Ditto!

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by ronsmac

Trainers are too obsessed with weight. Collected would have had to go into the 130s and trainers just won't do that. In the old days you could have just taken tons of weight off of the 3yos but most jocks in Cali can't make 110 or 112 anymore.

The shipping revolution is a gigantic part of horse racing's decline.

In racing's heyday, there was very little shipping. Which means you basically had to take the weight assignments. You could go on strike for a race, but that was it.

Had the jockeys gotten heavier way back when, tracks would have just assigned more weight and kept the spreads.

But if you can ship anywhere, there's basically no way that tracks can ask you to carry more than a few pounds more than whatever the jockeys weigh. Which means almost no spread at all, which is deadly to 3 year olds running against older in June.

(Since we just had our big discussion of Holy Bull, I will mention, he was one of many 3 year olds to win the Met Mile on Memorial Day over the years. This was a great race for 3 year olds to run in back in the day, because they would put you in with 108 or 110 or 112 and the best older horses were carrying 126.)

One interesting test is going to be Arrogate in the San Diego Handicap. He ought to be assigned 132 or something. I will bet he gets 125.