My favourite 3yr filly Alpha Centauri won her race yesterday, and hopefully comes for the BC. Love sire Mastercraftsman, who is on a roll this year with fillies- Agrotera, A Raving Beauty & Santa Monica. Her dam side is to die for, Miesque, who is !!!!!!!!!! (absolute favourite)(& Nureyev, my favourite ND) It slightly unhinges me to see pedigree like this, her dam Alpha Lupi is by Rahy, out of East of the Moon, who is out of Miesque by Private Account. But it was her run in the Coronation at Ascot that blew me away, then to see who her family is, well, intense love forever. For anyone who hasn't watched yet.This is as bad as how I felt about Winter Memories and Mizdirection.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CMujPeobXmI
Then trainer Harrington talking about her
She is gorgeous. I updated analysis on the Breeders Cup winners from this past weekend and posted a small analysis on her breeding. As you know, I fall short with analyzing the females, however this girl acts and runs like one of the boys so I went with it. As her numbers depict, she will be exceptionally hard to beat at the distance. Hope she enters as well.
Lisa, I was going to put her name in-not sure I have access-but saw that you beat me to it, plus your analysis. What's not to go absolutely batty over her? She's worth the trip if she gets in. Makes me insane!
Anna, I will send you a link so that you can become a moderator/writer and have access to more stuff on the website. I wanted to do that last week and forgot. I am not sure how much access it gives though in order to update everything (????) I honestly dont know how it works, however I do know that you will be able to delete spam or vulgar posts (if you should see any) and able to post blogs (different from forum posts) among other things. Check your email for the link. I will send it out now.
Wow! They could've gone around again and they weren't catching her. I certainly remember Miesque; what a killer!
She sends me over the moon Punter. I didn't have the good sense to be a racing fan when so many other fillies were running & its not the same youtubing races & reading, as watching their development in progress. I missed some doozies-starting with Miesque & Urban Sea. Ohhhhh the pain....in my heaaaaart.....
And then there's Goldikovaβ¦.
I know Punter, and then there's Beholder, both greats, but at least I had seen the light by then to witness both.
Anna, thank you for the catch on Fashion Business!! This is why I shouldnt write stuff at 5am!!!! I dont know what the heck I was thinking!! Spent 1/2 hour on that chart and didnt even realize!! LOL!π΄
Lisa, thanks for adding the Chef chart!
Punter - At least the lists are up. I plan on linking each chef to their charts/articles/progeny but I move at a snails pace!
I LOVE that Accelerate is so nicely in the mix. Aside from wanting sire Lookin at Lucky to move up, he is such a good rock solid runner.
Looking forward to the links Lisa !
Roaring Lion might come π π π π π
Roaring Lion is a monster! I saw that Jamie Osborne and Toast of New York has arrived Thunder Snow is around. Gronkowski on board. Mendelssohn too. Huge overseas showing. What a great race this is going to be. I'm still very partial to Catholic Boy and Mendelssohn but this is really going to be star studded group of runners. Only one month left to get it together. I hope to post alot of info on all of the big races but time is running short!!!
You absolutely never get the field that was your dream field in June or July do you?
I just cant see Catholic Boy, Accelerate or Mendelssohn out of that superfecta. But the more things evolve, it really does a number on that confidence factor, doesnt it?!
I'm still very skeptical about Mendelssohn. He will not get an easy lead like in the Travers, but we'll have to wait for final entries to see exactly how much front end speed is signed on for the race. The way Catholic Boy cruised by him in the Travers does not inspire confidence. Catholic Boy's Travers was fantastic and anything close to a repeat of that race will put him right there. Still have to see how the Jockey Club turns out and how they are all training coming up to the race. Can't wait!
Have to agree about Mendelssohn, Punter, I'm just puzzled about his handling this year. His BC was such a thing of beauty, then he blew them away in Dubai, so we'll see how the JC is. Thunder Snow! Like him even more than Gronk and Diversify. A great weekend coming up. Don't you love seeing those notices in your mailbox? Imperial Hint, Channel Maker, Spirit Animal- a nice 2 yr old. Best thing about Thursday afternoon.
Gronkowski is another one who has me scratching my head. His Travers was awful and I loved him that day. He didn't have the best of trips, but still, he didn't run at all. Yes, I do love this time of year! Can't wait to start handicapping the BC races.
I guess I see Mendelssohn a bit differently. Winning in the fashion he did on synthetic, turf and dirt is not something you see everyday. To me, makes him a cut above. Catholic Boy also with the ability to win on turf and dirt. Mendelssohn's optimum is 10.3f. Since he tackled all 3 surfaces there was a shot that he may have liked a sloppy surface (as rare as it is for a horse bred like that.) He simply didnt like it, especially after the boxing match. And then 8f on dirt in the Dwyer was probably the worst spot for him. Not making excuses for the guy but those 2 back to back races - slop in one and too short against speedy types in the other - really wasnt his cup of tea. After all, he still remains an overseas bred horse who leans to turf traveling at least 10f. If he was going to show his talent off, his last race was perfect for him in both track and distance and even though he didnt prevail against the best on that track that day, his performance finally matched his true capability. I believe he succeeded in that regard.
Toast of New York was a great horse in his prime. He was the only one I ever saw go up against Shared Belief and not look like an allowance horse. Granted, the horse lost to SB in the Pacific Classic, but he rode with him as best as he could. There is no doubt in my mind that Shared Belief was miles ahead of that particular crop, so he set the bar for all the others. TONY was the only one at that distance prior to the Classic that came close. Toast came back and almost won that Breeders Classic that year after SB was taken out at the gate.
Catholic Boy in my opinion is one of the best we have going this year as far as stamina leaning. In my mind, he sets the bar from the stamina category. Mendelssohn was the only one with him in that last race. Says alot for an overseas runner bred for turf.
The only big question I have is the match-up between Mendelssohn and Thunder Snow.
I know, certainly not an easy bet like Imperial Hint or Channel Maker-who is a full to Johnny Bear by the way. I also want Gronkowski in the mix, so what to do. Hopefully the paddock helps. Spirit Animal up next in the Pilgrim, my pick.
Accelerate is most deservedly in. LOVE this team.