12/17-18 (HOL): CashCall Futurity (G1); On Trust

[Kasept]

9th (4:37) CashCall Futurity (G1)

1 1/16 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 2 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $750,000

1 Handsome Mike Nakatani C S 121 L
2 Brother Francis Espinoza V 121 L
3 Groovin' Solo Quinonez A 121 L
4 Empire Way Rosario J 121 L
5 Drill Garcia M 121 L
6 Sky Kingdom Gomez G K 121 L
7 Blingo Smith M E 121 L
8 Rousing Sermon Talamo J 121 L
9 Liaison Bejarano R 121 L
10 Cozzetti Leparoux J R 121 L
11 Majestic City Dominguez R A 121 Blk-Off L
12 Basmati Berrios Hector I 121 L
13 Desormais Flores D R 121

[Bigsmc]

Per Team Valor on twitter, Lucky Chappy had a fever and is not shipping.

[dino]

So I can lose more money on that turtle Empire Way.

[Seattleallstar]

no Secret Circle which is probably a good thing in the long run, Baffert looks to be loaded for the Derby campaign he has about 20 horses in the barn talented enough.

[Kasept]

DUNDAY 9th (4:38) On Trust H.

7 1/2 Furlongs (All Weather Track) | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $80,000

1 Spud Spivens Gomez G K 116 L
2 Red Defense Rosario J 121 L
3 Scofield Barracks Berrios Hector I 113 L
4 Mark the Bench Garcia M 112 L
5 Legal Separation Espinoza V 116 L
6 Mensa Heat Talamo J 122 L
7 Chiloquin Pedroza M A 118 L

[Sightseek]

Hey Stevie,

Does Dunday come before or after Sunday?

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by Kasept

9th (4:37) CashCall Futurity (G1)

1 1/16 Miles (All Weather Track) | Open | 2 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $750,000

1 Handsome Mike Nakatani C S 121 L
2 Brother Francis Espinoza V 121 L
3 Groovin' Solo Quinonez A 121 L
4 Empire Way Rosario J 121 L
5 Drill Garcia M 121 L
6 Sky Kingdom Gomez G K 121 L
7 Blingo Smith M E 121 L
8 Rousing Sermon Talamo J 121 L
9 Liaison Bejarano R 121 L
10 Cozzetti Leparoux J R 121 L
11 Majestic City Dominguez R A 121 Blk-Off L
12 Basmati Berrios Hector I 121 L
13 Desormais Flores D R 121

I love Sky Kingdom in here, love him. A little Blingo to backup.

[asudevil]

Liaison will be flying late...

[Calzone Lord]

Liason just held.

A pretty nice Maiden finished 3rd. That maiden is now multiple Graded Stakes placed.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Liason just held.

A pretty nice Maiden finished 3rd. That maiden is now multiple Graded Stakes placed.

Nationalore part deux.

[asudevil]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Liason just held.

A pretty nice Maiden finished 3rd. That maiden is now multiple Graded Stakes placed.

I'll take it....

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Liason just held.

A pretty nice Maiden finished 3rd. That maiden is now multiple Graded Stakes placed.

Liaison faded late.

Brother Francis needed to run off the board to have any semblance of a normal career (ie another shot at maiden special weight company) for the next 6 months.

I eagerly await his return to straight maidens, say in late March or April, where I will be looking to bottom wheel or toss outright.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by asudevil

Liaison will be flying late...

Good call. I like him moving forward, but just liked the other 2 a little more in this spot. I was wrong, but I have been wrong all day.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by asudevil

I'll take it....

I thought he ran big. Better than his margin of victory would indicate anyways.

[asudevil]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

I thought he ran big. Better than his margin of victory would indicate anyways.

I've liked this horse from early on at Del Mar. I think he will get even better with more ground. Hopefully Baff puts him away for a while.

[hockey2315]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

I thought he ran big. Better than his margin of victory would indicate anyways.

How so? No unbiased person could hold your opinion. He couldn't have had an easier trip and again almost got run down by a complete mediocrity. . . I don't get this horse at all. The Cali 2-year-olds going long are pretty horrendous at this point.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

How so? No unbiased person could hold your opinion. He couldn't have had an easier trip and again almost got run down by a complete mediocrity. . . I don't get this horse at all. The Cali 2-year-olds going long are pretty horrendous at this point.

While the trip might have been free of any real trouble, I did like how he was able to sit behind a wall of horses and not 'lose it'. He ran professionally, which to me is pretty important, because he's been a noticeably green runner up till now.

Primarily, however, I don't think he's a synthetic surface runner.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

How so? No unbiased person could hold your opinion. He couldn't have had an easier trip and again almost got run down by a complete mediocrity. . . I don't get this horse at all. The Cali 2-year-olds going long are pretty horrendous at this point.

Relax. He was closer to the pace then he had to be and made his move a bit early. I liked him coming in because of his running style, coming way out of it. I thought he ran fine. I think hes better then Pioneer of the Nile was at this point. I know everyone will laugh at that but Pioneer of the Nile won a major derby prep and was second in the Derby. The thing about Liason is I think he really wants to dirt. We wont get to see if thats the case for a while though. What is there not to get about him at this point? I dont get what you dont get? Who has really stood out at this point? Union Rags has issues running straight, the Juvy winner I dont believe is much horse.... Who is there?

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

How so? No unbiased person could hold your opinion. He couldn't have had an easier trip and again almost got run down by a complete mediocrity. . . I don't get this horse at all. The Cali 2-year-olds going long are pretty horrendous at this point.

I don't really get him either. He got a nice ride and fell into a great trip. You can't fault him for it, but it's also worth mentioning when talking about the race he ran and margin of victory.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

Relax. He was closer to the pace then he had to be and made his move a bit early. I liked him coming in because of his running style, coming way out of it. I thought he ran fine.

I know much has been made about Liaison not "acting" like a typical Indian Charlie, and but when it is all said and done, this horse has never been more than 3 lengths back at the first point of call aside from his green and Polytrack-tainted debut.

He's shown some grit, but he's also shown some vulnerability inside the 1/16th pole in his last two.