Author Topic: ROTW  (Read 947 times)

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ROTW
« on: September 23, 2005, 07:25:40 AM »

>>Super Frolic (114) (9-2) – ran big figures flying under the radar at CRC and DEL, and then was purchased on our recommendation and sent to California. We’re not big believers in pace except in extreme situations, but in the Pacific Classic he had a worse trip than the Lusitania—3w3w while contesting fractions of 454 and 1:101, going a mile and a quarter. In that race, he was at level weights with Perfect Drift, who will be favored here, and lost to him by less than five lengths despite running several lengths off his best. Today Super Frolic gets eight pounds, worth about three lengths—which means if he gets
back to his best, he’s a likely winner.<

The pace aspect of this analysis warmed my heart. :)

IMO, SF ran very well last time out.

The 3 duelers were Lava Man, Surf Cat, and Super Frolic. Lava Man had the rail, Surf Cat was between horses, and Super Frolic was on the outside. SF finished only about 4 1/4 lengths behind Lava Man and ahead of Surf Cat despite the ground loss and being used harder in that pace from the outside to keep up with the others.  

It\'s hard to tell how much the pace impacted Lava Man and how much was him just not firing his best shot. He was vanned off. It is fairly clear he didn\'t run as fast as in his other recent races though. So it is likely that the pace took something out of him. If it took something out of the best older horse in CA  who was dueling on the rail, what did it take out of the somewhat weaker horses that were wider? Plus, just finishing ahead of Surf Cat despite a slightly more difficult trip while giving 7 pounds is a pretty darn good performance on its own. Surf Cat is no slouch.






 

HP

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2005, 08:15:54 AM »
Home of the Stars looks to have some value here as well, if he can get a trip from that post. Trainer looks very live turf to dirt...  

Good luck.

HP

jbelfior

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2005, 09:20:20 AM »
SUPER FROLIC is a solid horse, but that pace was ridiculous. Just look at who the winner was. They should have retired BORREGO right after the race.

My feeling is that SF left something on the Del Mar track that day, in fact I would be reluctant to back anyone out of that race in their next start.

I\'m betting that LORD OF THE GAME, tightened in that  1 miler on the turf, runs the race of his life tomorrow from the rail with 115 lbs.



Good Luck,
Joe B.

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #3 on: September 23, 2005, 09:43:54 AM »
Hey Joe,

I didn\'t want to bring that up, but I think SF\'s last race was a lifetime best. Perhaps he will take a step backwards. On the flip side, maybe the new ownership/trainer is turning him into a better horse.  

jimbo66

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #4 on: September 23, 2005, 10:17:25 AM »
Class,

Now Super Frolic\'s last was a lifetime best?  

Gimme a break already.  

That is the exact problem with you pace handicappers.  Every winning performance is analyzed by you guys afterward, as not as good as it seemed.  And every losing performance is analyzed afterwards as better than it was.  Pace handicapping is a little like socialism, at least as it is employed by you and chuckles....  :)

Super Frolic\'s last race was OK, but not a lifetime best.  It wasn\'t a smart ride by the jockey and he paid for it.  Beating Surf Cat that day was no big victory, he didn\'t run his race.  The fractions were fast, but so are the fractions in most races out west and specifically in that race every year.  Who was the distance challenged horse, trained by Frankel I believe, that wired the 1 1/4 Pacific Classic with ridiculous fractions, then couldn\'t run a lick when he came East?  

Maybe Super Frolic bounces back to one of his better figures and Good Luck to Jerry with him.  The rail horse looks very interesting though at a better price.  If he goes off at double digits, would be serious value.


Caradoc

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #5 on: September 23, 2005, 10:19:21 AM »
Jimbo:

Skimming?

Peter

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #6 on: September 23, 2005, 10:28:41 AM »
jimbo,

You are 100% correct about me.

I always look at the horse\'s figure \"and\" the trip he received to earn it as an expression of his performance.

I didn\'t make the Pacfic Classic a blazing pace (at least one pace figure maker did though), but I made it hot enough to impact the results. I also think that was far and away the highest quality field SF ever competed against. With all due respect to the new owners, SF is not a Grade 1 animal (at least not yet). IMO, when a lower quality animal is chasing a Grade 1 pace (and I certainly think Lava Man has been performing at that level) he\'s working damn hard \"for him\". He\'s working even harder if it\'s a fast Grade 1 pace. He\'s working even harder if he\'s 3 wide on the turns trying to keep up with the inside duelers. I can see the same speed figures everyone else can see, but IMO that was his lifetime top.  

jimbo66

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #7 on: September 23, 2005, 08:34:46 PM »
Thanks Peter.  That was it.  I remember being stupid enough to bet him coming east in the Jockey Club Gold Cup off his Delmar win and allowing Albert the Great to go off around 6-1 in the race and win easily over Skimming and an \"over the top\" Lemon Drop Kid, I believe.

That was the 3 year old crop that Albert was part of that took either top 4 or 5 spots in the BC Classic.  Tiznow, Giants Causeway, Captain Stephen, Albert the Great and Fusaichi Pegasus.

Class,

I didn\'t say you analyze the trip and the figure together. I would say you \"over-analyze\" the trip and pace in respect to the fig, similar to Clown.  You two both liked Bellamy Road\'s Derby and killed his Wood.  That shoud be enough said, right there.  If you always discount the wins and give more credit to the losses, you just wind up with a bunch of horses running \"decently\", all the time.  I read this regularly on this board, repeatedly, from both of you.  It is your opinion and you can post it again and again, but that doesn\'t make it right.  Sometimes a good race is a good race, period.  Leroides race was good last week, despite what Clown said.  For you to call Super Frolic\'s last race his lifetime best is ridiculous.  I am not saying his race sucked, but it was no lifetime best.  To me, that is a classic example of your over-analysis and over-compensating.  He ran into a pretty quick pace and maybe it cost him a couple lengths.  Maybe.  Maybe the \"2\" is closer to a \"1\".  But his top is negative 1 and change.  

Chuckles_the_Clown2

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Badmouthing Big Efforts and Sunday Silence
« Reply #8 on: September 23, 2005, 10:05:19 PM »
jimbo66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Class,
>
> I didn\'t say you analyze the trip and the figure
> together. I would say you \"over-analyze\" the trip
> and pace in respect to the fig, similar to Clown.
> You two both liked Bellamy Road\'s Derby and killed
> his Wood. That shoud be enough said, right there.

I said his Wood was a decent race and it was. Just never believed it was near a Negtive 5.  Regarding his Derby, I said he was a horse with a future. The Derby was not a bad effort and neither was his Travers. Neither of which means I like that horse. I don\'t like him. He\'s extremely one dimensional, but if they keep him away from the better horses at longer races he does have a future, which is what I said. Sure, I\'d take him if he was given to me, but I\'d pick more than a half dozen of his crop before him.


>  If you always discount the wins and give more
> credit to the losses, you just wind up with a
> bunch of horses running \"decently\", all the time.
> I read this regularly on this board, repeatedly,
> from both of you.

We both said a big win is rarely as good as it looks and that a loss can be better than it looks.

> It is your opinion and you can
> post it again and again, but that doesn\'t make it
> right.  Sometimes a good race is a good race,
> period.  Leroides race was good last week, despite
> what Clown said.  For you to call Super Frolic\'s
> last race his lifetime best is ridiculous.  I am
> not saying his race sucked, but it was no lifetime
> best.  To me, that is a classic example of your
> over-analysis and over-compensating.  He ran into
> a pretty quick pace and maybe it cost him a couple
> lengths.  Maybe.  Maybe the \"2\" is closer to a
> \"1\".  But his top is negative 1 and change.

I did not say Leroid didn\'t run a good race. It was a good race. I don\'t believe it was significantly better than the previous three to four races hes run however. I have many reasons for thinking that. One I haven\'t mentioned and don\'t intend to  for fear of being ridiculed, but its a reason that cinches it for me.

Even the Atto I give Leroid credit for is more than likely enough to beat the U.S. milers as it has been prior to the Atto. It is not good enough however to beat Dubawi, Starcraft and Ritko. The proof will come on B.C. Day.

As far as Super Frolic thats a race that clearly is better than it looks and that is the point. He has not been a horse that is impacted long by fast figures and Cerin has given him some time to recover, but it was undoubtedly a bigger effort than it appears and that is the issue. If it was a bigger effort than it appears did it take more out of him than a 2 otherwise has in his past performances?

I want to say one other thing here. I don\'t fully understand TGraphs system. I\'ve tried to figure it out, but I\'m in the dark on most of it and don\'t expect them to enlighten me. This is their enchilada. But i will say this: If there is merit to doing turf races (or even other races) \"on the horses\" as opposed to pars/variants and the comparison of finals times between races, what you are going to at times get are races where the internal fractions (or pace) slow the  final time and yet where the final performance figure can be fast, if not very fast.

What you are going to get with factoring horses that normally run 1.5\'s and 3.5\'s is figure factoring on beaten lengths where pace played perhaps a significant role in the final race time and even individual horses efforts. Some horses may handle a significant early foot battle better than others. Leroid may be one of those types. If there something about Leroids Atto that stands out it may be the internal fractions he ran upon. He won on those fractions when others quit. But you can\'t look at that race compared to the 6th and not suspect that it can\'t comparatively stand up as a negative 1 or faster when the 6th is about a 2 at best.

If the Atto has merit as a negative race that merit is internal and if it is internal TGraph is much bigger into pace than they are discussing. The pace in that event would be being absorbed or subsumed in the figure.

If anyone followed me, lets discuss again how good/fast Super Frolics Pacific Classic was, but not restrict ourselves to beaten lengths among the entries.

-----------------

Just finished watching a replay of the 1989 Kentucky Derby again. Several things jumped out again.

If you watch it check out the start where Sunday Silence nails Triple Buck and then the Stretch Drive where he gets into Northern Wolf. Additonally, look as Silence staggering all over that stretch.

After that watch it again and check out how Easy Goer is slipping and sliding. He couldn\'t get the traction he needed. Fate.

http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2005/derby_history/derby_charts/years/1989.html








xichibanx

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #9 on: September 24, 2005, 09:21:42 AM »
This is a tough ROTW week.  One I will not be betting.  However it is a race I have to play in two contests I am in.

I pretty much agree with the analysis on ROTW except I prefer the #6 Fantasticat.  I feel he has the best potential at 10 furlongs.  He was wide last out at AP and ran better than I thought he would in the BC.  He also has the best price potential.  #3 Super Frolic I feel is the most likely winner as he ran well at DMR and gets away from having to contest hot fractions while wide.  #5 Perfect Drift I feel can win but I don\'t want to use him at a short price.

A few others I like today:
R5 Belmont #1 Flashy Bull
R14 KD/TP #5 Silverfoot
Chalk but what can I tell you.  I\'m really not in love with anything today.

xichibanx

kev

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #10 on: September 24, 2005, 09:23:41 AM »
1.Lord of the game: Seems like to me he should have ran the 0 by now, I don\'t really care for his line.
2.Free4internet: When I\'m looking over races I thorw out all turf races ( of course if today\'s race is on dirt ) Now Free shows a line where he might be looping back around to one of his better efforts. At long odds he might be able to out run more than a few in here.
3. Super Frolic: Looks like this line will have him running another neg. effort, but if he does, will that cook him for the BC. At 9-2 he looks to run well in here today.
4. Desert Boom: Is really starting to become a horse that is getting down to biz. nice moving line getting down to the -0.1 the small bounce in his last and with about 8 weeks rest he might be able to run the -0.1 again and get him a check.
5. Perfect Drift: If you throw out the two turf races this year for him what do you have? Looks like a horse who is looping back around to a big neg. number. At very low odds, I don\'t know if you could key him, but I can\'t thorw him out either. He is getting alot of weight to other\'s and might go wide. Looks like another head bob coming up for the Drift.
6. Fantasicat: At best could run another 2 and that\'s a little too slow for these.
7.  Collateral Damage: Not for me.
8. Mambo Train: Even though he has a top of 0.3, his line isnt that great looking.
9. Good Reward: His best dirt effort is a 4.3 and he is 6-1ml why?? The trainer? Jock? The turf efforts? I just don\'t see it. Even if you left in the turf number\'s his line is bad looking, a top of 3, runs a 3.2 two back and backs right off of that one.
10. Home of Stars: Could be ready to run a 1.2 in here and might fall short, with a good trip he could hit the board. Nice longshot.

Nice race to cash on some good paying ex\'s. So I\'ll take D.Boom wheel him with Super F.Free4.and Home. Maybe a small back up with P.Drift. Hell maybe wheel DB and SF with the other three in a tri. Good luck everyone.

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #11 on: September 24, 2005, 10:40:29 AM »
Jimbo,

I can\'t speak for CTC, but I don\'t think every race is better or worse than it looks. I do think a lot of them are though because many of them have paces, field qualities, or track conditions that impact perfromances to varying degrees both on the race level and on the individual horse level.

You are absolutely correct that saying this doesn\'t make it so. I\'m just happy when Jerry allows me to discuss races in these terms because I like to. This is a great place to discuss races and horses because of the quantity and quality of discussion.  

All I can do is suggest that as an experiment you start looking at a set of high quality pace figures, speed figures that are made by the same guy that is making the pace figures, and a set of perfromance figures that attempts to quantify the impact of pace on the final time. I\'m not that big on exact formulas like these because I think racing is too complex to quantify exactly, but figures like these are more than accurate enough to demonstrate the general relationships. I think if you go into it with an open mind, you will find that a lot of things that seem baffling to you right now are readily explainable - not only in terms of impact but in terms of degree of impact.

Just to be clear, what I am suggesting is that you could improve your results and understanding of performances by supplementing you TG reading/figures with this incremental information.

I just have to address this one specific point.

\"You two both liked Bellamy Road\'s Derby and killed his Wood. \"

I didn\'t kill his Wood. I think it was a terrific performance, just not as good as the figure that everyone gave him suggested because it was earned under the most favorable possible conditions for a front runner. Personnally, I can\'t quantify \"exactly\" how much those condition contributed, but I tend to focus my attention on things like this because I know a high percentage of the public will take the race at face value and I disagree with that opinion. So IMO, there\'s value in knowing he\'s not as good as he looks even when I don\'t know exactly how good he is.

The same thing is true of the Derby, but in the opposite direction. Many people will look at the figure, take it at face value and presume he sucked. But the figure he earned that day came under the worst possible conditions imagineable. I can\'t quantify his Derby performance exactly either, but the various formulas used are at least a clue and so are the race records and subsequent performances of the horses with similar horror show trips.

IMO, his most recent race was actually pretty honest. He did make the lead, but the fractions were more than honest and he resisted a tough challenge from a solid Grade 1 3YO late in the race. I take that number at face value.  

This may all sound very grey and inexact to you. I agree. But as I always say, I would rather be approximately right than exactly wrong.  

It\'s really up to you. You won\'t convice me I am wrong, but you can look at some extra data and decide if it\'s useful and adds value.



 

J-DUB

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #12 on: September 24, 2005, 01:20:50 PM »


     Perfict Drift keeps making every dance it seems. Looks like the winner against these today. Giving weight but just appears too fast with usual effort.
     
     Logical contenders are Frolic and Boom and I like the Mambo Train to get a piece.


JW

davidrex

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Re: ROTW
« Reply #13 on: September 24, 2005, 02:26:11 PM »
     have to put chalk on top
 

fan. cat is sitting on go...4yr. old ..gate problem then buried race that was written up as no factor. If double digits will bet to win...carries corrected wt. .117

     5/6/1,3,7....5,6/5,6/137...5,6/7...1,3/7

   c. damge 3rd.lay good tg/tr.profile   30/1 !!!!!






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Re: ROTW
« Reply #14 on: September 24, 2005, 02:38:03 PM »
Based on the informal DRF poll, it looks like Super Frolic will be a decent price.