waytotheleft

[shanahan]

nothing like a 2/17 winner blowing by the field - without encouragement - to win a stakes race, is there?  someone explain how it is possible, for a 5 yr old no less...at least I understood the Evening Attire win (fan bet).

[miff]

Shan,

A few things.

1.The type on the top of the page says stakes race but there were no real stake horses in the race and it was NY Breds.Take a careful look at the entrants, not a runner amongst them.When they breed this filly it will say stakes winner, but only the uninformed buy into that.

2.Contessa is on a gigantic roll this winter and many of his claims are moving up.This one surprised but beat nothing( I used the 2 and 6 and got knocked out of the p4 and p6)

3.Dominquez rode the rail all the way and the front horse stopped.

Anyway, Shan that\'s the way I saw it.

Mike

[Bally Ache]

Shanahan,

I take the opposite tack and say how could we ever have let this horse go off at 22-1.  I say we because I bet the 8 and played him with the 6 expecting the 8 to do what the 7 actually did.

As Miff says, rail, Dominguez.  Also, first time Dominguez and going from Channing Hill to Dominguez (huge difference). The horse\'s last race was almost competitive with the best that this bunch could do and the rider change moves her up.  NYers tend to be parochial and slow to accept anyone but I think most must realize now that Dominguez can ride with anyone.  I didn\'t understand why he went back to Delaware last spring and I\'m curious to see what he does this year.

[big18741]

Dominguez has young kids and I think a new baby-wanted to stay local as much as possible.The guy owns Delaware and the purses are good.He\'s only 30-31 so he has time to end up in New York full time.

[miff]

Dominquez rides the inner track at Aqu as well as anyone.Except for his occasionally showboating, he\'s great and ranks up there with John V and Prado in NY.

Mike

[shanahan]

dominguez was a late jock change, correct?  perhaps listed on the trainer\'s other horse that scratched (post 11)?  did not get that news, which would have been helpful, but probably not changed my choices from 2,9,10.

[miff]

Hot Fairgrounds bug Joe Talamo coming to NY with Ronnie Ebanks agenting. Expect many wins.


Mike

[richiebee]

Talamo has looked good down on Gentilly Boulevard this winter, but note that
he loses his bug in June or July. Also note that according to TG stats, he only
has a 7% strike rate in grass races.

Talamo has enjoyed good success riding for Bobby Frankel this winter; will be
interesting to see if Frankel uses him extensively in  NY.

[MO]

I saw Talamo ride last year on Super Derby day. He\'s a natural. Very patient on front runners and when boxed in. He\'s got a great future.

[Lost Cause]

I hope you\'re kidding about this...Ramon Dominguez is a good jockey when facing bad competition and when he has the best horse...Put him in a race with JohnnyV and Edgar P on the same type of horse and he\'ll finish fourth.  This is why he doesn\'t stay here after the inner because when the true competition comes back he gets exposed constantly.  He constantly puts his horses in bad positions and could not outride any of the big boys down the stretch.

[miff]

Lost,

There are no \"big boys\" in NY except for Gomez, Prado and John V(close to 100% now).Dominquez owns Delaware and makes big money there. He can ride for any outfit in NY.Many trainers claim he doesn\'t \"punish\" a horse and they like that.

Agree he\'s not the strongest in the lane but I haven\'t seen him put horses in a bad position as you have stated.

Mike

[NoCarolinaTony]

I\'ve had the chance to talk to Ramon at lenght. He told me his wife prefers living in the Del area, that\'s where she is from. His Children are with his wife. He promised her that he will stay in De al long as it makes sense financially, which it does, as the purse structure at DEL, is not bad, and he is the KING OF THAT CASTLE.

Why bite the hand that feeds, becuase it\'s NY, he has to race there to prove something...and to whom? A dollar earned in DE is = to a $ earned in NY as far as I can tell. Plus state tax structure is better.

NC Tony

[MO]

Ramon has Prado\'s former agent. That\'s why he gets the good mounts and why he is king of Delaware. Most horseman will tell you that horses run for Ramon,and at the same time they will tell you he does nothing to help a horse. He\'s a real nice guy and he gets along well with everybody. That\'s all one can ask for.

[Boscar Obarra]

First of all the rail was golden.

  Second, he got a \'miracle\' tuck just before the turn, I watched it on the head on. Nice riding.

  Third, the rail opened up like the Red Seas parted for Moses.  Very nice. Guess no one else thought the rail was any kind of an edge, or maybe all those others in the race are chronic bear outs.

 come to think of it, waytotheleft implies a rail trip, I love hunch bets.

[miff]

Since the inner track opened in November there was one day when horses in the outside paths favored better than inside runners.


Mike