Notes - July 15

- Oh yeah, I didn't complete my thought in the last post about Pletcher's two low-odds losers at Delaware on Saturday. Cotton Blossom was the other besides Safari Queen, checking in 4th at 6-5 in the G2 Delaware Oaks. Man, *REDBOARDING ALERT* if I had done what reader Case requested and found the time to have analyzed this race, I would have been all over betting against her. She had that gaudy 102 figure from the Acorn, but her highest Beyer in her two turn races was 85.

I can't say I would have come up with the winner Moon Catcher, but she certainly came into the race with a pattern of improvement that we always like to see, especially with three-year old fillies as the season progresses along. Tim Ritchey trains this daughter of Malibu Moon. She was caught a bit wide on the first turn, and was then hounded by Bear Now the length of the backstretch. Cotton Blossom and Winning Point sat nice trips behind the leaders. Pletcher's filly was being asked for more on the turn and was done shortly thereafter. Winning Point came off the rail midstretch and barely missed in a great finish; check it out on the NTRA Video Archives page.

Moon Catcher is out of a Smarten mare, and her second dam is a half to Ancient Title, and there's a name whose mention transports me back to the earliest days of my involvement with the sport. He won stakes every year from two through eight, and won 24 out of 57 races.