Monday Morning Notes - Oct 1

- I don't believe that either of the two horses generally considered to be the leading Classic contenders lost too much appeal in getting beat this weekend. Street Sense, in particular, was taken out of his game on a track he may not care for. He finished well, and remember he used non-winning efforts on Polytrack to prepare for the two biggest wins of his career.

It looked like Lawyer Ron reverted to some of his old bad habits, as Johnny V seemed hard-pressed to back him off from the longshot leader Brother Bobby. That could have taken its toll when he failed to hold off Curlin....and man, he looked like a winner at the eighth pole, didn't he? Despite losing, I think he dispelled doubts for most about his ability to get the distance, and he may prefer the more conventional two turns of Saratoga and Monmouth.

Of course, while neither of the above horses enhanced their standing, Tiago and Curlin established some serious momentum....OK, and Hard Spun too. But I guess I gotta save some of this for the Breeders' Cup blog, so here's a couple of random thoughts on the weekend's races:

- Velazquez again did a great rating job on the grass when he stole the Pilgrim Stakes with The Leopard for Pletcher on Saturday. Made the 4-5 favorite making his first start on the grass, The Leopard got to the half in a lazy 49.17, and then went the next quarter in 24.72. But from there, he flew in 22.09 seconds to the sixteenth pole, and another 5.63 seconds home!

This $2.5 million son of Storm Cat, out of a Mr. Prospector mare, may be headed for the Breeders Cup Juvenile Turf. Pletcher said: "The Leopard had things his own way the first part of it, but I like the way he finished and galloped out." His second dam is a full sister to the French champion Caerleon, and to the Pilgrim and Secretariat winner Vision.

The Toddster just...and I mean just missed another stakes winner in the Kentucky Cup Sprint at Turfway. Base Commander came flying at the end but missed catching favored Piratesonthelake by a jump. Then, in the next race, Pletcher's Chitoz could not get past Texas Fever in the Kentucky Cup Juvenile, losing by a neck. The winner is by Victory Gallop out of Fortyniner Fever, a three-quarter sister to the Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus.

At Hawthorne, did they really make AP Arrow the 4-5 favorite in their Gold Cup? Student Council was the morning line favorite off his win in the much-derided G1 Pacific Classic. This time, he went 2:05 flat, some two seconds faster than at Del Mar, though still nothing to write home about. However, the track at Hawthorne has been slow, and he came home in a snappy 24 seconds off a slow pace. His owner Ro Parra said he will "wait a couple weeks" before deciding about the Classic.

Miss Grillo Stakes winner Namaste's Wish is a full-sister to Purge. Pletcher was again a runner-up in that race, but it's not like it was all bad for the Toddster. He had three winners at Belmont on Sunday, including his exacta sweep of the Beldame, and man, that division is wide open, isn't it?