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#1
03-03-2008, 05:02 PM
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The Big Cap and other weekend action
Maybe this has been covered already - but the top three finishers in the Santa Anita Handicap had never won on a natural dirt surface - in fact, only Go Between has ever run over one before.
The top three finishers also had an Irish flavor to them - as the winner Heatseeker was bred in Ireland and the dams of 2nd and 3rd place finishers Go Between and Champs Elysees were both bred in Ireland. Isn't it about time that they just spraypaint those synthetics green? And in Big Cap undercard news - Mike Mitchell and his magical 'hop' was on display again - as Ever A Friend (who opened up at an alarmingly short price in the early betting before drifting) totally dominated the Kilroe Mile. What do the Big Cap winner Heatseeker and Kilroe winner Ever A Friend have in common? Among many things, they both lost allowance turf sprints at Belmont in September of '06. They also both won Grade 1's on differing variations of turf courses on Saturday at Santa Anita. The beloved Sham Stakes is a race that should be dear to all of our hearts. That is so because it always features a comically slow early pace - as any March 1st Derby prep at a 9 furlong distance should. In a 3 year span from 2003-to-2005, such dog biscuits as ('03) Man Among Men, ('04) Master David and ('05) Going Wild have won circumstantial pace and trip aided runnings of the Sham over the likes of Empire Maker ('03) Borrego ('04) and Giacomo ('05) - that stellar trio of defeated plodders have won such classic distances races as the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes, Pacific Classic, and Jockey Club Gold Cup. As for this years running of the Sham Stakes - once again we saw a VERY slow pace - once again we saw a dream trip winner beat a 2nd place finisher who was really best. The problem is that the race was run over a mock worthy surface .. I have serious doubts that El Gato Malo is really a true classic distance closer on natural dirt ... he also certainly doesn't have the very stout routing pedigrees like Empire Maker, Borrego, or Giacomo had either. As for the Davona Dale Stakes.... the only horse in the race who wants to run further than six furlongs won the race. Favorite Game Face was a bad trip 2nd - she worked an unblinkered furlong in 10 flat at OBS March '07 and contrary to her big perfect trip 7f win last out, she showed distance limitations when the trip wasn't so easy. And finally - The Stymie at AQU ... Daaher took real early pressure again - and Malibu Moonshine won with the kind of once in a lifetime dream trip that Daheer had for his style in the Cigar Mile. 
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#3
03-03-2008, 05:25 PM
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#4
03-03-2008, 05:34 PM
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I think I've said enough right there.
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#5
03-03-2008, 09:00 PM
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They haven't ran many times at 10f on the synthetic stuff at SA, but I would venture a guess that the pace figure for the Big Cap is about 60 Beyer points or so faster to the 6f call than the aptly named Sham. For those not up on the Beyer scale, that is only about 24 lengths.
The Gulfstream race was also ridiculously slow early as well. It think it is time to face the fact that our horses pretty much suck at any distance over about 1m1/16. There was a time not long ago when Graded races for older horses on dirt were always run with a fast pace. These slow paced contests were very rare exceptions. Now, the opposite situation prevails.
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#6
03-03-2008, 09:19 PM
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The top three finishers also had an Irish flavor to them - as the winner Heatseeker was bred in Ireland and the dams of 2nd and 3rd place finishers Go Between and Champs Elysees were both bred in Ireland.
Another Haskin-like tidbit, all 3 were sired by unlucky losers from the 2000 BC program. Heatseeker by Giant's Causeway (Classic), Go Between by Point Given (Juvenile), and Champs Elysees by Dansili (Mile).
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#7
03-03-2008, 09:25 PM
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The only good horses it ever attracts are the ones who want to stay. You would think a few trainers would catch on and point a cheaper speed horse for this race - you never get more than one to enter though - and some years you get none. And they always totally outrun their odds. It really does underline how dumb trainers are - that year in and year out - more slow plodding cheaper horses are pointed for this race than speedy cheaper horses. Those types obviously always run HORRIBLE because they get no pace.
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#9
03-03-2008, 09:36 PM
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Yeah - it seems a lot easier to close into a crawl on fake dirt. That's for sure.
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#10
03-03-2008, 09:51 PM
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The SA 3yo stakes program is as muddled and diluted as the BC is sure to become. The Sham used to be a restricted stakes in mid-February, catering to horses coming out of allowance races or bridesmaids from graded stakes (eg, Ferdinand and General Meeting). The Santa Catalina (now the Robert Lewis) was also restricted, and run in early January, but apparently SA wanted to suck the life out of the concurrently run El Camino Real Derby up north, which generally drew a strong field littered with promising SoCal horses. The heart of the program used to be the 7f San Vincente in February, followed by the San Rafael and San Felipe in early and late March respectively. Typically, these drew good-sized fields (with several horses using both preps) as opposed to the 5-horse fields (often with matching inconclusive results) that all 5 stakes now draw. Of course, once the synthetics are firmly in place, there should be enough sound horses (or at least imported Euro poly horses) to fill a 3yo stakes every week...
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#12
03-03-2008, 10:40 PM
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He ran 3rd, beaten 3.5 lengths and got his Graded Stakes placing ... so while he didn't upset either of the two far superior horses - he made the pace and got his Graded Stakes placing ... which is a nice thing for a horse who had never run a Beyer higher than 79. The way the race was run - on natural dirt - he might have even been tougher to break away from.
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