4/22 (OP): Oaklawn H. (G2), Bathhouse Row, The Vapors

[Kasept]

[RolloTomasi]

What's with these HOF trainers and adding blinkers on horses that have a billion starts under their belts?

What was the plan with Charge It in the Oaklawn Handicap after moving too soon and wilting in his previous start? Stretch him out to 9f, add blinkers, and send him? That sort of makes sense if you have no faith in a horse that ran the highest BSF of all 3yos last year.

Yet that's not even what they do. Instead, they add blinkers and then choke him down around the clubhouse turn when he's unsurprisingly eager for the lead. No bid, hangs the final eighth. Brilliant.

Better cut him back to one turn, but the Met Mile probably not the place to do it (I'll still take a long look if he gets lost on the board).

Meanwhile, Steve Asmussen needless adds blinker to one-run closer Red Route One, a horse that was displaying a brilliant turn of foot on the turn without following through in the stretch in both the Southwest & the Rebel. Add blinkers and voila! Now he doesn't accelerate on the turn so much as plug along to collar horses that can't even get by their first allowance condition. Yeah, he won today and yeah, he'll be at Pimlico for the Preakness...you know the place where most one-run closers tend to shine...Horse chould have been going to Churchill if they left his face alone.

These guys "train" too many horses and only have time to entertain knee jerk adjustments when their top class horses get beat a couple of times. Maybe they should try tweaking their training rather than their equipment...