Quote:
Originally Posted by parsixfarms
Horses' form is not static. We wager on races every day trying to figure out why Horse A, who was beaten by Horse B in a given race, may not be able to do it again. I don't think there's any doubt that Summer Bird, in his 7th and 8th career lifetime starts, has improved since the Haskell. Also, the Woodward showed the effects that a long, impressive campaign had upon Rachel Alexandra. I know that it's just "opinion and conjecture'", but given what's transpired since the Haskell, had Summer Bird and Rachel Alexandra raced against each other yesterday in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, I think the outcome of the Haskell was likely to be reversed.
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Your post is the most spot on in this thread, it's a distortion to think RA is 10 lengths better than SB at this point of time had they both run yesterday. One horse is getting better with maturity and the other may be showing signs of tailing off, I find it hard to believe for one moment that if Jess Jackson had thought RA was feeling good about herself and that she would run well at SA that she wouldn't be there, 8 weeks between races is more than enough time to have a fresh horse ready for the BC Classic especially for a trainer of Asmussen's capabilities. It's all conjecture what would have happened if she faced Summer Bird yesterday, my humble opinion I think she would have been up against it, Kent D was quoted there was more left in the tank if he needed it against QR and for Beyer backers it was only a 111 he ran yesterday, more than enough to give her a headache than the 107 she ran in the Woodward a race 1 furlong shorter.