Travers & Pacific Classic weekend preview

by TCI 270 days ago

The TCI Boys go on location to WinStar Farm where they visited Elliott Walden and exchanged views on a power-packed weekend in Thoroughbred racing, including the prestigious Travers S. (G1) and Pacific Classic (G1). They also tackle the topics regarding the recent retirements among this year’s star 3-year-olds, including WinStar’s own Bodemeister. See what Elliott has to say.

Watch it. Comment.

TCI Top 5 Sprinters

Rank Name Comments
1 Amazombie Defending champ deserves this spot on his class, consistency and love for Santa Anita
2 Roman Threat Lightly-raced half to champion Indian Blessing has exploded onto the scene as a 4yo
3 Trinniberg Unquestionably the leading 3yo sprinter, but can he be effective against older horses?
4 Emcee Another talented and lightly-raced older horse; Set up for a big summer in NY
5 The Factor Loves Santa Anita, but his ability at six furlongs against top sprinters is very suspect

through 8/23/2012


- More posts: 2012 Breeders' Cup, Featured Horse Racing News

Discussion

  • Joe Polander

    Joel – I am amazed by Willy Beamins performance in the Kings Bishop. This could be a star in the making. To win a grade 1 race Vs. the likes of Trinniberg and Currency swap is very impressive. Willy Beamin won on just 3 days rest! He drew poorly from the #1 hole and found himself in 8th place at the top of the stretch. That’s where Alan Garcia angled Willie Beamin out and he flew down the center of the track and mowed down the competition. He is not Breeders cup nominated but you would think that after an impressive win like this one , that this could change. Amazombie is still the leader in this division, but come BC day if Willy Beamin stays in form he could be a live contender at a big price.

  • Joel Cunningham

    Joe,
    Willy Beamin is definitely on the improve. But to be honest when horses do things we’re not used to seeing – like win the biggest race of their career on a short rest – it becomes difficult to process, at least for me. The stance I’m taking is that I will need him to prove it to me again over a good field before I buy in.
    In my opinion, there were some results in big races at Saratoga this past weekend that didn’t logically add up. That track can get very “typey” at times, as we’ve seen in the past, and I just wonder if we saw that happen over the weekend.
    Trinniberg, Neck n’ Neck, Nonios, Currency Swap, Royal Delta, etc all were major contenders who ran sub-par races, and when that happens (combined with the longshot winners such as Willy Beamin, Love and Pride, Golden Ticket) it just makes you wonder if we can put stock into the results.
    I don’t mean that negatively as if I want to sound like a sour bettor or something. My goal is simply to identify the best Breeders’ Cup contenders, so my view is projecting towards what can/will happen 9 weeks from now. So with that in mind, I find it hard to think of the results of the Travers, Personal Ensign and the King’s Bishop (and Pacific Classic over Poly for that matter) as major preps we’ll really look back on after the Breeders’ Cup and think of as big races that gave us the proper clues to figuring out the Breeders’ Cup winners. Usually these races do that on a normal year… I’m not so sure I believe that to be the case this year. We’ll see!
    I do agree Amazombie is the deserving divisional leader for the BC Sprint, and I personally don’t see any 3yos I would consider that stack up against him and some of the better older sprinters.


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