From DRF...
...At least as noteworthy as Backtalk\'s comeback win was his final Illinois Derby work last Thursday at Fair Grounds: Six furlongs in 1:09.60. That was easily the fastest six-furlong work of the winter in New Orleans, and would have been among the fastest six-furlong races of the Fair Grounds meeting. Cash Refund went a meet-best 1:09.13 winning the Duncan Kenner Stakes last Saturday.
\"I\'ve never seen anything like it,\" said Billy Pettingill, who has worked as a Fair Grounds clocker for more than 25 years. \"I thought there was something wrong with my watch. The only thing I had anywhere near that was a horse called Apprentice for Billy Badgett, who worked in 1:10 flat.\"
The Apprentice work took place in 1993. A more typical high-end six-furlong Fair Grounds work would be something like 1:12. Pettingill said he got Backtalk in splits of 34.60 seconds for three furlongs, 46.60 for four furlongs, and 57.60 for five furlongs. Amazingly, he also timed Backtalk going out another furlong past the wire in 11.60.
\"He was still galloping well when he came back to the half-mile pole,\" said Pettingill.
But the breeze left trainer Tom Amoss more worried than impressed.
\"There\'s no question he did a lot in the work,\" Amoss said. \"Although he hasn\'t shown any outward signs that would cause concern, that kind of thing often doesn\'t show up till a race. That can by a very dulling work.\"
Amoss said Backtalk worked so fast because two horses used as company broke off for the drill showing unexpected speed.
\"He was supposed to be six or eight lengths behind,\" Amoss said. \"It wound up being 20.\"
Backtalk, it should be noted, passed those workmates at the sixteenth pole. The jury\'s still out on whether that was a hint of things to come in Saturday\'s race - or whether Backtalk left his race back in New Orleans.
