bluegrass stakes

[boys at tosconova]

program enclosed

discuss

[Spalding No!]

Wild Shot wire-to-wire.

If Classic Empire truly is back to his best, he should have entered in this race.

[boys at tosconova]

Originally Posted by Spalding No!

Wild Shot wire-to-wire.

If Classic Empire truly is back to his best, he should have entered in this race.

i was really upset that he didn't get 2nd last out. cost me a bunch of money. good news is that he'll be double digits, loses that ball and chain in albarado and should show early foot in a paceless race.

wouldn't be surprised to see the horse 13/15-1 even if he finishes 2nd the exacta should be a nice price

[Spalding No!]

Originally Posted by boys at tosconova

i was really upset that he didn't get 2nd last out. cost me a bunch of money. good news is that he'll be double digits, loses that ball and chain in albarado and should show early foot in a paceless race.

wouldn't be surprised to see the horse 13/15-1 even if he finishes 2nd the exacta should be a nice price

It's nice to see a historical stable like Calumet, now reinvigorated with a new owner with a lot of money, have a "revival" of sorts with so many marginal contenders with the potential of making into the Derby field this year.

Wild Shot, Hence, Patch, Sonneteer, and Term of Art.

The only problem is they all seem to be second-tier horses.

[arw629]

I really like Tapwrit in this race and I firmly believe he is the best horse and not McCracken. I think they will be very close in the betting as to who goes favorite.

[Andrick]

I like Tapwrit in this race as well, with the aforementioned Wild Shot hanging around to round out the exacta.

[boys at tosconova]

1-it's your nickel

i don't even know where to begin with this horse. 4 different tracks and 3 different surfaces in four starts

ran a monster race in the battaglia (2nd off the layoff) where he disposed of en hanse, which came on the heels of a 4 month layoff where he only loss by a length to senior investment. who was an also ran in the louisiana derby. obv the horse has talent and they're making a derby run. unfortunately i'm not convinced he's a dirt horse, and/or classy enough vs these. will have to step up vs these. it's not just one horse that looks good in here. it's several he'll have to beat just to hit the board.

2-mccracken

undefeated colt runs the same big time race off the pace every time out against large fields. i don't know what to say. but i've never had the feeling that "this horse is the best" or "this horse should be the kderby fav"..or whatever kudos you want to say about him. yes he's noce horse but i really haven't been on his bandwagon. if you want to knit pick i guess you can say he'll have to up his game once again vs some good horses in here, and that he hasn't raced in 2 months. also, being a closer he could be compromised, but this is such a short field. seems hard to leave out but would not be shocked if he doesn't win at 6/5

3-j boys echo

i loved this horse in the gotham and he delivered. fact is i didn't think there would be that much of a speed dual and he would be sitting 4th just off of it from the 1 hole. even though a big race was expected he really got the perfect storm. obv he could go a couple different directions here, and possibly even show some speed. which i really think he will. could be perfectly situated in light fractions up front as well. thing is,...it looks like there are better horses than cloud computing and el areeb in here. and this time around he will likely be asked for more run early

4-tapwrit

coming off a big win taking big money in the tb derby which was preceded by a another nice race where he didn't really seem to try that hard finishing 2nd to mccracken off the 2 month layoff. the cat was really out of the bag after the tb derby and there's no reason whey you shouldn't see another big race.. pletcher might even have this one forwardly placed as well. could make mccracken's job even harder trying to catch a sharp horse that might be many lengths ahead of him in modest fractions.

5-wild shot

thought you would see a better race than you did in the tb derby. seemed like a perfect spot for a big run off of the heels of a multiple move race 1st off the bench in the sf davis. but the tb derby was a disappointing third. showed no speed at all and closed unimpressively for 3rd in a no try type race. distance might be the problem for the horse, and even more dirt to cover might make it worse for him. really not a fan of albarado and a jock switch seems good here, even though it's because robby opted for j boys. he does have some back speed to at least get involved more, or at the very least he might not be that far back. still..seems dicey in this tough spot.


6-irap.

what's to like? finished 2nd and was even money (mineithatbirdderby) vs 2nd place finisher conquest mo money in the sun derby where he ran a so so 4th......i guess being an abbreviated field means anything is possible, but this horse looks like an easy toss.



7-practical joke

horse is always there never being off the board in 5 lifetime starts. last in the FOY it looked like he was making a winning move, only for him to get caught from behind by gunnevera. seemed like the timing of the move was a little too quick, or the horse doesn't want to go that far. well,...it was his first race in 4 months so i'm not going to be that critical of a 2nd place finish. how can the horse not be last or 2nd to last early on here? very conflicted here, but it does seems like the horse prolly won't reach in this race. he;s going to have to show he's just flat out better out closing them all.

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Best prep this weekend even though it is just 7 horses.

Biggest problem is that there will be ZERO pace. Write off Tapwrit in this one unless he is simply much the better.

Wild Shot at a price could get a walk and the Irap even becomes interesting.

I suspect McCracken will get involved earlier than normal, and I actually kind of like Practical Joke if I can get him at 7/1 or better.

Otherwhise, Wild Shot at 15/1 is playable. Need to see them on the track.

[no breathalyzer]

The race should be called the McCracken stakes

[boys at tosconova]

Originally Posted by no breathalyzer

The race should be called the McCracken stakes

it looks like all systems go. he and tapwrit might be many lengths better than this field

[boys at tosconova]

In the Tampa Bay Derby (G2), Wild Shot finished third, six lengths behind Tapwrit. In both Tampa races, Wild Shot sat off the pace, a tactic that is not expected to be employed Saturday.

“He will be on the lead,” Arnold said of Wild Shot, who will be ridden by Corey Lanerie. “I’m done piddling around trying to get him to go a mile and a quarter.”

[Mc990]

Originally Posted by boys at tosconova

it looks like all systems go. he and tapwrit might be many lengths better than this field

Maybe. I don't think, but maybe. If you like McCraken in this spot, aren't you betting on him running a career best. He'll need it here. He looks like he could be a nice horse but his numbers are just decent as of now.

Highly unlikely that Wilkes will squeeze the lemon here. Don't need to. I expect a good effort but as the favorite he has the look of a big time underlay.

I'm a handicapper first and a fan a distant second so I'm obligated to take a discerning stance. Have to demand value.

[PowerUpPaynter]

Practical Joke looks like he's filled out quite nice.

Twitter

Thats a strong looking horses right there

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Originally Posted by PowerUpPaynter

Practical Joke looks like he's filled out quite nice.

https://twitter.com/francesjkaron/st...54497634910210


Thats a strong looking horses right there

Agree. Damn that is a fine looking colt.

Thanks for the Pic!

[JayTris07]

Originally Posted by PowerUpPaynter

Practical Joke looks like he's filled out quite nice.

https://twitter.com/francesjkaron/st...54497634910210


Thats a strong looking horses right there

Damn, he looks ready for war. Is he on the Barry Bonds diet?