Showing posts with label UK racing video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK racing video. Show all posts

  • Triple Crown Insider: Gotham recap

    POSTED Mar 6, 2012 By Unknown
    Jon Siegel and Joel Cunningham recap the Gotham Stakes for Triple Crown Insider.

    My take: Hansen showed that he can absolutely take control of a race and finish strongly. The complete confidence Ramon Dominguez showed early despite racing wide into the turn and having to track a fast pace was encouraging from a development standpoint.

    I wasn't a big fan of the "Hansen needs to rate" meme that populated discussion of the Gotham and the Derby picture before the race, but obviously his Gotham trip was preferable to engaging King And Crusader. I like that Dominguez let My Adonis dictate when to "send" Hansen rather than having to chase King and Crusader.

    The only cause for pause from this race that I see going forward is that Hansen was in the clear the whole way around the track. I don't see this as a negative because you want a horse who lets his rider take control of the race and put him in a position to win at all points of call, but it's definitely worth noting as clean trips are never a guarantee.

    On the other hand, the best way to get a clean trip is to be the fastest horse at each point in the race, and it looks as if Maker and Dominguez have found a good balance on how to ration that speed.


    Long-term prognosis: I moved Hansen up to eighth on my top ten Derby rankings but based on the action he took in pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager, I can't imagine he'll be offering much value over the next 8 1/2 weeks. Currently, I see him as a big threat to win the regional Derbys that are so popular throughout the summer and fall. There's a lot of money to be made by winning the Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Indiana, and Oklahoma Derbys.

  • Coronation Stakes Sectional Times

    POSTED Jun 17, 2011 By Peter Thomas Fornatale
    From a pace perspective, the Coronation Stakes was run in interesting fashion. It was a FAST pace overall, but the opening quarter seemed to suggest we might be looking at a crawl: the race as a whole went at 12.9 seconds per furlong on average and the opening quarter went in 16 seconds with no accounting for a run up. But then things changed fast as the pace quickened mightily, especially given the condition of the ground. Furlongs 2-5 went in 48:2 on the soft going and broke down as follows. . .the second furlong was 12 flat. The third was 12.1. From 3-5, they went in just 24:1. From the fifth furlong to the 6th they went in 13.1 as the front of the pack was tiring and the closers were launching their bids. This is where Immortal Verse was really kicking into high gear. When interviewed after the race Mosse said, “When I took my time to wait to pull her out, actually she reacted quicker than I was expecting.” Sure enough, from 2 furlongs out to 1 furlong out, Immortal Verse ran 11.7 going to the front and blowing the race up. Seemingly everyone was tired up the hill as Immortal Verse clocked the final furlong in 12.7. Overall, the data says it was a slow first eighth, fast middle six furlongs, slow last eighth. But there are possible explanations for the slow last eighth: she won geared down and even at that was still drawing away. Also, Mosse said that he thought he got to the front too soon, indicating that maybe she may have been idling in front as well. If she’d kept up her turn of foot she might have won by double digits.

    Technically, you’d have to call IMMORTAL VERSE a slight flow downgrade as things really set up well for her, though I certainly wouldn’t be keen to oppose her in any race with either soft ground or an expected hot pace. The final time was fast, only 2.75 over standard despite ground that seemed to generally be costing the other winners more time per mile than that.

    Many kudos to Rob Dove for noticing the sectionals for her previous race in France, identifying that she came home in :22 flat there in soft, and making her a bet today.