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Post by Evelyn on Aug 19, 2013 7:43:36 GMT -5
Smme interesting comments.
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Post by bloodstock64 on Aug 19, 2013 12:24:48 GMT -5
I can't wait!!!!!!
Loading up on Verrazano.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 19, 2013 12:30:39 GMT -5
Guess you won't be smoking good Cigars for a while then..
Verrazano can not win PERIOD
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Post by bloodstock64 on Aug 19, 2013 13:03:40 GMT -5
Guess you won't be smoking good Cigars for a while then.. Verrazano can not win PERIOD Thanks. I'm doubling down now. Pres, you really should leave your Pletcher envy at the stable gate.
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cait
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Post by cait on Aug 21, 2013 12:40:57 GMT -5
how important do you think post positions will be for this race?
Travers Stakes: Verrazano in post 3 as 2-1 morning-line favorite By David Grening
At least as far as the post-position draw goes in the battle of the Big Three for Saturday’s $1 million Travers, advantage Palace Malice. The Belmont and Jim Dandy stakes winner, Palace Malice drew post 8 while his top rivals – Kentucky Derby winner Orb and Haskell winner Verrazano – drew posts 2 and 3 for the 144th Travers Stakes.
Todd Pletcher, who trains Palace Malice and Verrazano, prefers his horses to be outside of the primary speed in a race. Moreno, the expected pacesetter drew post 6.
“I think when you’re outside of a speed horse, you kind of have some options,” Pletcher said. “We’ll still have options. [Verrazano] might just have to navigate his way around a little bit.”
Verrazano, who will be ridden by John Velazquez, was installed as the 2-1 morning-line favorite by New York Racing Association linemaker Eric Donovan. Palace Malice was made the second choice at 5-2, while Orb – the favorite in all three Triple Crown races – was made the 4-1 third choice.
Verrazano, a son of More Than Ready, is 6 for 7 lifetime, with his only loss coming in the Kentucky Derby, where he finished 14th over a sloppy track. Since then, he won the Grade 3 Pegasus by 9 1/4 lengths and the Grade 1 Haskell Invitational by a stakes-record 9 3/4 lengths, earning a 116 Beyer Speed Figure, the highest by any 3-year-old this year.
“He’s only lost once in his life, and he’s coming off arguably the most dominant 3-year-old performance of the year,” Pletcher said when asked if he was surprised that Verrazano was the morning-line favorite. “Those three morning-line favorites, it’s going to be very close in the wagering.”
Like Verrazano, Palace Malice is coming off a lifetime-best performance in the Jim Dandy, where he won by one length and earned a 107 Beyer. Five of the last eight Jim Dandy winners have come back to win the Travers.
“We’re concerned that we’re trying to match lifetime-best performances back in four weeks; it’s always a balancing act,” Pletcher said. “We just hope they’re able to come over and run their races. Everything we’ve seen in their training since the Jim Dandy and the Haskell indicates to us they’re still in peak form. You just hope that’s the case Saturday afternoon.”
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Orb will be making his first start since a subpar third-place finish in the Belmont Stakes. He was purposely given a break by trainer Shug McGaughey, who sent him to the Fair Hill Training Center in Maryland for two months.
“I’m surprised there’s that much separation,” McGaughey said about the odds. “I don’t think he’ll be 4-1 when they run on it.”
Will Take Charge, the Jim Dandy runner-up, and Transparent, disqualified from first in the Curlin Stakes, are the co-fourth choices at 10-1. Will Take Charge gets a rider switch to Luis Saez.
Godolphin Racing has the uncoupled entry of Transparent, trained by Kiaran McLaughlin, and Romansh, trained by Tom Albertrani. Transparent was demoted to fourth place in the Curlin Stakes, while Romansh was elevated from second to first.
A coupled entry in the Curlin, Transparent and Romansh will be individual betting interests in the Travers because the rules allow for uncoupled entries in races where the purse is a minimum $1 million.
War Dancer, the Virginia Derby winner, will try to transfer his good turf form to dirt for trainer Ken McPeek, whose Golden Ticket dead-heated with Alpha for the win in last year’s Travers.
Golden Soul, the runner-up to Orb in the Kentucky Derby, will try to bounce back from losses by double-digit lengths in the Belmont Stakes and Haskell Invitational.
The Travers will go as race 12 on a 14-race program that begins at 11:35 a.m. and includes the King’s Bishop and Test – both Grade 1 races – as well as the Grade 2 Ballston Spa.
The Travers will be shown live on NBC in a 90-minute broadcast that begins at 4:30 p.m. Eastern.
Travers field 1. Romansh, J. Castellano, T. Albertrani, 12-1 2. Orb, J. Rosario, S. McGaughey, 4-1 3. Verrazano, J. Velazquez, T. Pletcher, 2-1 4. Golden Soul, R. Albarado, D. Stewart, 20-1 5. Will Take Charge, L. Saez, D. Lukas, 10-1 6. Moreno, J. Ortiz, E. Guillot, 12-1 7. War Dancer, A. Garcia, K. McPeek, 15-1 8. Palace Malice, M. Smith, T. Pletcher, 5-2 9. Transparent, I. Ortiz, K. McLaughlin, 10-1
DRF
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Post by bloodstock64 on Aug 21, 2013 13:46:34 GMT -5
Two horse race. Verrazano wins by 3 and Palace Malice completes the $8.40 exacta.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 21, 2013 16:43:23 GMT -5
Mr Tagg has opted not to run Java's War. Not a surprise!
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 22, 2013 0:33:26 GMT -5
Analysis from Down the Stretch GI Kentucky Derby winner Orb, GI Belmont Stakes winner Palace Malice, and GI Haskell winner Verrazano, will all take their shot at the 3yo supremacy as this troika of 3yo’s will go postward to settle the issue this Saturday in the 144th running of the $1,000,000, GI Travers Stakes, at 1 1/4 mile over the Saratoga main track! Verrazano, at 2/1, is the winner of the GI Wood Memorial and GI Haskell Invitational Stakes at Monmouth Park this year, just blown out a top field of 3yo’s in that same GI Haskell Stakes by almost 10 lengths last out! He’ll be in the mix here for sure in this one but he shouldn’t want for the favorite’s role here at the “Graveyard of Favorites“! His derby effort does give of some pause about his ability to go the 1 1/4 mile here on Saturday but rainy skies and a 20 horse field are not on the menu for him this Saturday as we feel he is a much improved 3yo since that first Saturday in May! Solid exotics choice here! Palace Malice, at 5/2, is the 2013 GI Belmont Stakes winner and the winner of the GII Jim Dandy Stakes here at Saratoga last out, won both of those races quite handily too! He’ll probably be a very short price here in this derby distance dust-up come post time and he’ll be right there in our exacta thinking too! Orb, at 4/1 , is the GI Kentucky Derby winner who according to trainer Shug McGaughey is primed to do battle here this Saturday. He did have form problems in both the GI Preakness coming 4th and GI Belmont Stakes with a 3rd finish last out! He not far off his Derby form so he’ll make our exacta thinking in this GI 3yo division showdown. Will Take Charge, at 10/1, winner of the GII Rebel Stakes earlier this spring, then finished well off the board in all 3 triple crown races this season. He looked rather good once again in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes here last out taking the runner-up spot back just a closing length behind Palace Malice! Might surprise with a board hit here on Saturday! Moreno, at 15/1, winner of the GII Dwyer Stakes 2 back and was the early front runner here in the GII Jim Dandy Stakes but faded to 3rd at the end in that 2-turn Travers prep! Golden Soul, at 20/1, 2nd in this year’s GI Kentucky Derby , then was well off the board in both the GI Belmont Stakes and the GI Haskell Invitational in his last 2 outs and believe it or not he is still eligible for a 1x alw as he is still a just a maiden winner! Transparent, at 10/1, was the first to the line winner of the Curlin Stakes here last out but was DQ’d all the way down to 5th for interfering in the stretch. He got good early speed and could be in the front running vanguard here on Saturday Free Past Performance - Brisnet or DRF www.downthestretches.com/
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 23, 2013 8:32:35 GMT -5
Ev's been talking about this horse. RG - It's Coach's LOL
Need a Travers longshot? Here you go By Steven Crist DRF
If you had won the weekly drawing for a free $15,000 bet on the Saturday feature at Saratoga, you would probably want to put it on one of the three favorites for the race: Verrazano (2-1), coming off a sensational blowout victory in the Haskell; Palace Malice (5-2), who has won the Belmont Stakes and the Jim Dandy in his last two starts; or Orb (7-2), the Kentucky Derby winner. They are all good horses, and any one of them would move straight to the head of the 3-year-old class with a Travers triumph.
Since you didn’t win the drawing, however, you are not obliged to play it safe and choose among the lowest-risk options. Might I interest you instead in a 10-1 shot with a fighting chance?
If Will Take Charge hadn’t run second to Palace Malice in the Jim Dandy here four weeks ago, you would be reasonable to demand 50-1 to bet on him in the Travers. He ran in all three legs of the Triple Crown but didn’t do a whole lot of running: eighth beaten 12 1/4 lengths in the Derby at 38-1; seventh beaten 16 lengths in the Preakness at 11-1; and 10th beaten 17 lengths in the Belmont at 22-1. A mere 45 1/4 lengths away from Triple Crown immortality.
Those classic running lines usually send a horse to the Iowa Derby rather than Saratoga, but trainer D. Wayne Lukas continued to believe he had a better horse than those finishes suggest. After all, in his last start before the Derby, Will Take Charge had won the Rebel over Oxbow, who went on to win the Preakness and run a strong second in the Belmont. He sent Will Take Charge out against Palace Malice in the Jim Dandy, took the blinkers off the colt, and Will Take Charge was a different horse: He looked eager every step of the way, mounted a nice rally around the stretch turn, and finished strongly to run second, beaten just a diminishing length by Palace Malice.
If this is the real Will Take Charge, I see no reason he should not continue to move forward with a race over the track under his girth and an extra furlong to work with in the Travers. He may not be as likely a winner as the three favorites, but he’s likelier than 10-1.
The inclination to back such a horse stems in part from a lack of confidence in the favorites, and I have my doubts about two of them. I have no knocks on Palace Malice – I just prefer to take a horse who was gaining on him last time and will be quadruple the price – but Verrazano and Orb seem less solid to me.
Verrazano, undefeated in seven starts with the exception of a dismal 14th in the Derby, comes off the powerhouse performance of the year in the Haskell: a 9 3/4-length romp over a slow Monmouth track that earned him a 116 Beyer Speed Figure, the best by any 3-year-old in 2013. He looked terrific drawing away as if added distance would be no problem, but his tepid competition barely showed up and his big finish may have been somewhat an optical illusion. He may well have the most raw talent in the field, but I want to see him do it again against more serious opposition.
Orb presents a different dilemma. He looked like the king of the crop with a smooth and dominant Derby victory, but after a flat fourth in the Preakness and a flat third in the Belmont, it’s fair to wonder if the wet track he caught at Churchill Downs was what made him look so good. He also comes into the Travers off an unconventional training regimen of gallops, a few breezes, and spa treatments at Fair Hill that might not have him tightly wound for a 10-furlong battle.
That may be somewhat by design, as he is penciled in for two more 10-furlong races of arguably greater importance. Much as the Travers may rearrange the pro-tem pecking order among the 3-year-olds, it does not conclude the sophomore season or the battle for the champion 3-year-old Eclipse Award. While we’ve had to settle for champion 3-year-olds who did nothing against older horses in the fall the last three years (I’ll Have Another, Animal Kingdom, Lookin At Lucky), racing works best when these horses compete and prove their real worth against their elders in races such as the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2013 15:22:08 GMT -5
first off, post position means nothing in a nine horse field at this distance. if anyone needs to use that as an excuse, you had the wrong horse.
secondly, i understand you are just posting this for information and to publish any news available jon. but for the life of me, i don't understand why anyone takes what these guys have to say seriously when asked questions like this. what do you expect them to say? " oh my horse is coming into the race in horrible shape and i hate our chances?"
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cait
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Post by cait on Aug 23, 2013 15:57:05 GMT -5
i think all of "girls" will be including Will Take Charge in exotics - i like crist - sometimes - what do ya think of transparent? kk - your pick? (besides wiz the best pony of the day runs in the 8th! )
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Post by Deleted on Aug 23, 2013 16:26:19 GMT -5
if that rat in the eigth is the best of the day, then horse racing is in big trouble.
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Post by bloodstock64 on Aug 23, 2013 22:45:49 GMT -5
Anyone who thinks Verrazano will be beat has a HUGE deficiency of handicapping grey matter going on. Anything over 7/5 will be a General Import Format Technology.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 14:02:48 GMT -5
he may get beat, but to say he has no chance is, well, not to cause a fight, but stupid. exactly what are you basing this off of? hes lost one race in his life. on a muddy trck where he got a bad trip in a 20 horse field at a distance he wasn't ready for. I didn't like him in the derby and actually have never bet a dollar on him as I haven't played any of the races hes run in other then the derby. but hes definitely the horse to beat. I have thought palace malice wa a top horse from the start and still think he is, but verrazanno looks like he is better to me.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 14:29:46 GMT -5
Until Verrazano is beaten on a fast track, I'm going with him. Throw out the sloppy Derby and he's undefeated. He's strictly the one to beat.
I don't think we'll get 7-5 though, maybe 6-5 or even Even.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 15:30:13 GMT -5
first off, post position means nothing in a nine horse field at this distance. if anyone needs to use that as an excuse, you had the wrong horse. I think you should have a talk with Baffert - that's the exact reason he "says" that Liaison was scratched - because of the post position.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 24, 2013 17:03:12 GMT -5
Verrazano can't go 1 1/4 - Period. Mud was no excuse. That's why I tossed him. Anyone throw Moreno in their exotics? MNorenohows anything goes at the Spa!
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 17:07:16 GMT -5
Steve Crist stuck his neck out and picked a pretty nice $21 winner.
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Jon
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Post by Jon on Aug 24, 2013 17:09:41 GMT -5
The girls had it too (well - Ev and RG - don't know what C played - she's probably out spending her FD haul!) We really need to find a way to have Nancy meet Coach LOL
Crist not a bad 'capper. He should stick to that and ditch his editorials.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2013 17:11:40 GMT -5
and you believe that, George?
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