Damon Runyon Stakes

[Gate Dancer]

Would have to think that both the 2nd place (Bullheaded Boy) and 3rd place (Tizquick) were better than the winner in this race. Bullheaded Boy was 5 wide into the first turn, made a strong middle move and had to wait entering the stretch before closing stoutly. Tizquick was a bit sawed off at the start, then had to steady in the first turn and also made a nice run into the stretch. Masons Dream was forced into the rail after turning into the backstretch by the last place finisher and lost all chance at that point. He could be a bit of a price in his next race. The Equibase chart minimizes the trouble that both Bullheaded Boy and Tizquick had but does note the issue for Masons Dream.

[NTamm1215]

While I agree that Bullheaded Boy had trouble around the turn, the winner of this race was best by a colossal margin when you factor in certain elements of his trip. First of all, he covered more ground than every other horse in the field, including 39 and 36 feet more than the 2nd and 3rd place finishers. These were Good Luck Gus' splits:

23.67, 24.56, 25.65, 27.36, 4:42

Bullheaded Boy

24.67, 24.74, 25.30, 26.99, 4.44

Tizquick

24.28, 24.42, 25.77, 27.18, 4.51

I think Tizquick ran a very nice race and was likely compromised by a slightly premature move. However, there's no doubt that given the speed of the opening half-mile and where he chased that pace from, that Good Luck Gus was best. I think Tizquick needs to be cutback and am almost beginning to wonder if Bullheaded Boy is a horse who trouble just adheres to.

[Gate Dancer]

Excellent points and I can agree with those but I think this also illustrates what some ground loss versus a troubled trip can produce. I'd rather be in the 3-4 path and have no issues than down inside and possibly be checked once or twice. All three have some nice NY stakes potential and should be fun to watch battling in the future. I actually played Masons Dream and still think he could be interesting also.

[Gate Dancer]

All 3 run Friday (Jan 9th) in Allowance race (8th) at Aqu...............love to see Masons Dream at 20-1 in the ML. Comments don't do the horses last race justice. Yummy!