No Tin In Turf

- The Tin Man is out of the Turf. "He just isn't training back up to his best form and I'm not going to bring him there if he's not," so said Richard Mandella to Bloodhorse. And that's despite his working five furlongs in 59.2 the other day. He apparently has not bounced back from his narrow win in the Clement L. Hirsch. I thought at the time that it was somewhat disappointing that he had to work as hard as he did to win, and apparently it took its toll. He got a Beyer of 103, which was a bit below the 105 in the Million, lower still than the 108 in the race before that, so he was not on a good track as far as the numbers go.

In the latest Turf report in the Form, Marty McGee wrote that no more than 10 horses appear likely for the race, and that was including The Tin Man, and Shirocco as well. The latter's status has more recently been called into question.

Walter posed the question of who deserves to be the favorite amongst Shirocco, Hurricane Run (who seems to be pointing here), Cacique, and English Channel. It's hard to say without knowing the turf condition; if it comes up soft, then the defending champion Shirocco would deserve to be favorite. But my opinion is that Cacique is, right now, the best of the four, at least on firmer ground.

Sunday's International at Woodbine has attracted some horses that could have been a factor in the Turf, at least in exotics anyway, and the race is becoming a thorn and the side of the Breeders Cup race with its $1 million $2 million purse. This year, the race has attracted Go Deputy, who seems to really have come into his own in his last two, and his second to Cacique earns him some respect in my opinion. Pletcher has been stuck on 93 stakes winners, and God, it seems like an eternity now, and this seems to be a good spot for him.

But there are some compelling entries from Europe, inculding Kastoria, a five-year old mare from Ireland and the winner of three in a row, most recently the Grade 1 Irish St. Leger; and Blue Monday, beaten less than two lengths by David Junior albeit at a shorter distance. And then there's Collier Hill, last year's St. Leger winner who has been in good form of late.