Cat Scratch Fever

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

richiebee wrote:

> Miff:
>
>   How can you expect anything out of the Grocer after you saw
> the way Sort It Out ran Saturday?

Baffert had stated shortly after the purchase the horse had lost weight and needed some time. (When a trainer says bad things about his horse I pay it a little bit more mind.) TGJB stated Baffert might have some problems moving him up off Iwinski, but to make the Derby you need to get so many starts in. I\'m not sure Baffert had to go in the La.Derby, but I was skeptical of seeing his best.

I guess it depends upon two things. 1. Do you think you saw Grocers best in the Whirlaway and 2. Do you think you saw Sort it Outs best in the La. Derby.

[richiebee]

Chuckles:

 I observed that the McNair\'s, and not Baffert, were probably keen on going in the La. Derby. I am on record as saying, numerous times, that this was a bad purchase, that SIO was the type of animal we see here at AQ every winter, the type of animal who just loves something about the composition of the inner tube and is really only average (or worse) on any other surface.

 I also have never liked horses shipping from cold climate to warm in the middle of winter.

 I expect to see a radical drop off in performance from two current inner tube superstars-- Stellianos and Bank Audit-- when they compete on other NYRA surfaces.

 Interesting that Galloping Grocer and Rockport Harbor, who battled each other in the second fastest 9 furlong Remsen in history, both came back a little worse for wear early in their 3YO seasons. A case of too far, too fast as 2YOs?

[Silver Charm]

Baffert went on record after the buy and stated: \"I picked him out myself\".

If the horse was pushed into the La Derby against his wishes, NOBODY pushed him into buying what you have stated on many times to be an average animal.

He stated in a DRF article last summer at milkshake city Del Mar, written by Steve Anderson, regarding his two year old crop, \"I\'m loaded\".

Finally he and I agree on something.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

lol

I don\'t know, whose he got? FuRuler and FuRock right? And now Sort of Uncertain...lol

He had an off year last year as well, but the years not over. It doesn\'t look overly promising but I wouldn\'t count him out in the Crown races just yet. Maybe he\'s workin on EPO or whatever the other guys are mixin.

I\'ll concede the inner tube horses haven\'t come forward in the Triple Crown, at least to my knowledge, but these things are great to buck. For whatever reason SOI was not up to speed in the La. Derby and I think Gallop gets one more chance. I also like Scrappy and Naughty. I think they are pretty good horses. Can they handle the likes of Alex, Sun King and High Limit? I don\'t know about that. Its step up time.

[Michael D.]

do you still think it\'s sad that i changed the subject on this string from \"cat scratch fever\" to \"beware\"? the filly went to the hyperbaric chamber to be treated with oxygen while she was on the illegal road trip last week. do you still think this was \"textbook perfect handling\"? (glad i didn\'t bet summerly - looks like i was wrong there).

Michael,

\"do you still think this was \"textbook perfect handling\"?\"

I don\'t know what to think of the whole situation. I generally assume there\'s a lot of things going on that I don\'t know about, but I sort of expect more when it comes to Grade 1 horses and races.  

I did think she was being handled perfectly in terms of bringing her up to a peak effort. I also thought she was overbet in the SA Derby though. I had no insight whatsoever into anything being wrong.

[Michael D.]

nobody can handicap these things - that\'s what sucks so much.

[Boscar Obarra]

  Yeah, class, it really sucks when you have to be right twice to collect once.

  Having the right knock and still tearing them up, it\'s one of the nastiest parts of the game. One theory I have is that a beatable favorite frequently appears in a race where the others are inscrutable.  

  My condolances.

[Boscar Obarra]

Michael D. wrote:

> nobody can handicap these things - that\'s what sucks so much.

  Yeah, but I bet you the information is IN THE POOL.