just notced this.............

simply a tune up - a turf race on a very soft course - perfect for a frontrunner - post sounds like a whiney child composed just to start stupid bs lol

and......not a cali shipper - ny trainer - trains at Belmont - 19 starts - only 2 in cali - geeeesh!!

will go with the trainer on this as he is one of the best - (and ignore the most biased poster here lol btw - cali racing is improving - slightly - but a shadow of what it used to be - now a limited pool of horses, trainers, owners)

Classic thoughts on a Super Saturday
Bob Ehalt blog
ELMONT, N.Y. -- Once upon a time, winning a race such as the Jockey Club Gold Cup was a grand achievement in its own right.

These days, win the Gold Cup -- or any major fall stakes, for that matter -- and inevitably, when you stand in the winner's circle, people, especially those with pens, pads and recording devices, keep asking you about a race a month down the road.

It happened to trainer Christophe Clement on Saturday at a dark, chilly Belmont Park and to Hall of Fame trainer Shug McGaughey in a considerably different setting.

Clement won the $1 million Gold Cup for a second straight year with even-money favorite Tonalist, who finally brushed aside the sting of runner-up finishes in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap and Grade 2 Suburban and a third in the Grade 1 Whitney earlier in the year by powering to a 4 ¾-length victory over Wicked Strong on a sloppy track in the famed mile-and-a-quarter stakes.

"People forgot about him, but I didn't forget about him," said Clement, whose 2014 Belmont Stakes winner came into the race with just one win in four previous starts this year. "We're back here, we won this race a year ago, and it's great. I thought that even when he got beat this year, he never ran a bad race. He's a top class horse. We're back on top."

So what about the Breeders' Cup Classic?

"That's the logical step," Clement said after his colt secured an automatic berth in the $5 million Classic by winning one of the Breeders' Cup Challenge "Win and You're In" races. "We'll enjoy this for a day or two, and then we'll go from there."

Of course, knowing Tonalist, who was fifth in last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, will have to contend with Triple Crown winner American Pharoah and the brilliant mare Beholder four weeks from now on Oct. 31 at Keeneland in the Breeders' Cup is reason enough to dwell on the present rather than the future.

Yet as much as Tonalist's only stakes wins have come at Belmont Park, his late speed could come in handy at Keeneland, given that American Pharoah, who put in a sharp five-furlong 59.80 seconds workout earlier in the day at Santa Anita, and Beholder just might knock heads in the early stages of the BC Classic.

"I think we belong in that group," Clement said about the star-studded probable field for the Classic. "We will be there. Looking back on it, I might have made a training mistake by running him without blinkers last year [in the Breeders' Cup Classic]. We'll think about that, but I want to enjoy this."

McGaughey was also steered into conversations about the future after a graded stakes on the Super Saturday card, though he was much happier to put the race behind him and his Breeders' Cup Classic contender, Whitney, and Metropolitan Handicap winner, Honor Code.

Ranked third behind American Pharoah and Beholder in the latest National Thoroughbred Racing Association poll, Honor Code, like Tonalist, made his first start since the Aug. 8 Whitney, but McGaughey opted for a different comeback race.

McGaughey owns an 0-5 record in the BC Classic, and each time he prepped for the world championships in a traditional mile-and-an-eighth-or-longer race such as the JC Gold Cup, Woodward or Super Derby. To get Honor Code ready for the huge challenge ahead awaiting him at Keeneland, McGaughey opted for the $400,000 Kelso, a Grade 2 test at a one-turn mile.

Honor Code had captured his career debut in the slop at Saratoga, when he closed from 22 lengths back to win going-away by 4½ lengths. But this time, though he did not trail by more than seven lengths at any call, the combination of a comfortable pace for the victorious frontrunner Appealing Tale and the wet track prevented Honor Code from doing anything better than close some ground late to grab third, 3¾ lengths behind the winner as a beaten 3-5 favorite.

Although Honor Code won Belmont's Metropolitan Handicap at the same mile distance as the Kelso in the Met Mile, front-running Private Zone helped Honor Code close from 14 lengths back by carving out blazing fractions of 22.42 and 44.92 seconds. Appealing Tale, meanwhile, cruised along through splits of 23.50 and 46.35 seconds.

"[Jockey Javier Castellano] said he thought the pace and the wet track worked against [Honor Code], and I would tend to agree with that," McGaughey said. "He responded well at the end, so hopefully he'll come out of it good and we can move forward to the Breeders' Cup. I had run a couple of horses in the Gold Cup who had come back in the [BC Classic] and not done as well, so that was on the back of my mind. Watching him run today, he probably had a better chance in the Gold Cup, but that's not the final goal. The final goal is the Breeders' Cup."

Indeed it is for Honor Code, American Pharoah and Beholder, plus others with their eyes on the BC Classic such as Smooth Roller, Frosted and Travers winner Keen Ice -- Tonalist too.

He gave Clement and owner Robert S. Evans yet another classic moment to enjoy Saturday in one of New York's biggest races of the year.

Not to spoil the celebration, but next we'll find out if it leads to a truly Classic moment at Keeneland in as big and important a race as the Breeders' Cup has ever seen. These days, you can't have one without the other.

Please leave personal crap from other venues off of this forum.

As to this race, agree with Shug. Not sure why he was in this race but too short and soft turf not for him. Will be using him in the Classic.

As to the other crap here - in all fairness, CC doesn't go after ALL CA racing. She likes Mandella, Am Pharoah, the Stutes, Hollendorfer and has said so many times. Wiz - c'mon man, you bash 99% of everything NY LOL Opinions are opinions. Give the blanket criticisms a rest!

I'll also say I don't often follow CA because it really is a limited product - especially in day to day racing. It's just nopt very good betting wise unless it's a big Saturday. I may not be as vocal but I can't stand Baffert either and don't think he's a great trainer. My wife likes him so I just keep that to myself LOL

again jon, this race was not on nor was it ever scheduled for the turf. does anyone even know what race and horses they are talking about before they start arguing over it?

i agree this probably wasnt the best spot for him and i would hope it was meant to be a prep only. if not, then the trainer really is a .

i have heard her bash hollendorfer as well, and the only reason she like pharoh is because she knows a tc winner is good for racing. but she also tempers every good thing she says about him with something bad. dont say you havent seen that as well.

i do not bash everything ny. in fact even this horse, after i saw his first race, i said he might be the best horse in the country. however, i do not let my like or dislike affect my ability to change or alter my opinion as it needs to be done. this horse is at a disadvantage due to his running style and lack of natural speed. that has been my point for a while. but others refuse to see or admit this and just keep right on thinking or touting him as some great horse.
there have been plenty of other horses from ny i have liked as well...............until it was time not to like them. sweet reason the same year comes to mind. the pletcher horse from 2 years ago that ran 2nd in the met mile and then won the whitney i believe is another one. clearly now last year i thought was going to be a major force, until he turned out to be a puke. do i need to go on? i also dont tout or like everything west coast or baffert. i never liked GOD or thought he was that good. midnight hawk, flashpoint, and a few others last year also that baffert had that i said were no good. like i said, im not backing or bashing everything from any certain region. im judging them on a one by one basis, something others dont do.
oh btw, if the racing in california is such a shadow of what it used to be and they have such a limited pool of horses, then once again, why are they dominating the tc preps and races every year? you want to compare a pool of basically two tracks (anita and del mar) to the entire rest of the country, and yet the horses shipping from here still routinely beat the others. why is that?

not turf but a sealed muddy track - good for a frontrunner - admit I didn't see the race - wasn't betting as dealing with rain and a fallen 30 ft tree - don't recall bashing hollendorfer - praised and defended him and cchrome - should be a great racing day on sat - think keeneland will pull it off in classy fashion - just hope it doesn't rain

oh - don't bash everything re cali - baffert sucks as a trainer but a good $ man which is what today's racing is all about - the day to day cards suck - right - just my opinions - don't care what wiz thinks - he's a 'capper not a horseman who hasn't been on a backside in at least 10 yrs and therefore really doesn't know what's going on - and a good 'capper - (yeah - he'll scream about that but so what as he always screams about facts lol)

was at work - meant "and" corrected your majesty - get interrupted because I'm supposed to be working lol