R2R got the okay to resume training and reportedly will still head to Saratoga: Rags to Riches OK; Returns to Training
[QUOTE=ShowMeTheGlory;2593383]
You think they are going to retire her!!??
:mad:[/QUOTE]
Nah! She is going to be shipped to Saratoga Tuesday morning (see link Barnfairly provided) after her workout today [likely this morning] and they’ll see if she is still in the game for the Alabama Stakes. Todd is being very cautious with his words about her being ready for that race in a couple of weeks.
“The Alabama is a possibility,” Pletcher said, adding he would be at Belmont to supervise the gallop. “I need to watch her train for the next week and obviously how she breezes. All of that is going to be critical in terms of what has become a tight schedule. I’ll play that by ear for the remainder of the week and go from there.”
He should just get all the big pressure off his back by racing both the Green Monkey and ‘Rags’ on the same day. With so much visibility on both it can’t be a lot of fun with either in your barn vs. a bit overlooked Lawyer Ron who just does his job without much fuss.
I wonder how Hard Spun is doing. Haven’t heard much on him lately. The Haskell looks to be shaping up into a mighty fine race. If Mnmth is playing out like they are saying, it might actually be in HS’s favor. Whether or not he is good enough for Curlin or SS, it sure would be nice to see him win again. He’s such a nice horse. Anybody hear Pino laugh when Jerry asked him about riding HS again? It was funny.
I suppose a new thread should be started since this isn’t really Saratoga related!
The verdict is in on Lawyer Ron and his record breaking time
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2591220]
A record for Lawyer Ron and the Whitney … or not? The Daily Racing Form questions the timing
DRF 7-29-07 “A track-record Whitney – or was it?”[/QUOTE]
The record time is correct
A NYRA and media review on Monday showed Lawyer Ron’s record time of 1:46.64 in the Whitney Handicap on Saturday was in fact accurate.
The Beyer speed fig for the effort was a 116 which is actually rather low IMHO.
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2595160]
The record time is correct
The Beyer speed fig for the effort was a 116 which is actually rather low IMHO.[/QUOTE]
How does that work-- setting a track record with such an “average” Beyer (for a G1)? It didn’t seem like the surface was abnormally fast Saturday. I guess no speed figure is perfect.
Regardless, I’m glad Lawyer Ron’s time held up.
Rags to Riches
She’s on her way, might even be there by now.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;2595911]
How does that work-- setting a track record with such an “average” Beyer (for a G1)? It didn’t seem like the surface was abnormally fast Saturday. I guess no speed figure is perfect.
Regardless, I’m glad Lawyer Ron’s time held up.[/QUOTE]
Likewise I’m still scratching my head about the low Beyer fig assignment. Not sure if it goes to the DRF’s opinion of the time being wrong or what.
Sports Illustrated 7-31-07 “After further review …”
From The BloodHorse who always like to get a friendly jab at competitor the DRF who used the phrase “out of whack” in regards to NYRA’s clocks:
But for now, it’s all about Street Sense, and let’s not forget Lawyer Ron, whose time in the Whitney Handicap (gr. I) was so out of whack with the other times over the weekend, the New York Racing Association studied it back and forth and concluded the colt’s track-record time of 1:46.64 was correct, putting him in a different time zone than the other horses that competed during those two days.
So, apparently, the older horse division is alive and well, and there is a worthy foe with the speed and brilliance to compete with the 3-year-olds. Now, if only Lava Man will attempt one final raid back East, we should have an exciting match-up of generations in the Breeders’ Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I).
Is that 116 figure for LR before or after the track variant has been deducted? The “raw” figure could be much higher before a variant of 10 or 20 points is removed…
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;2596087]
Is that 116 figure for LR before or after the track variant has been deducted? The “raw” figure could be much higher before a variant of 10 or 20 points is removed…[/QUOTE]
You are correct with the variant factor
Steven Crist of the DRF cites why it was assigned before the offical time was upheld:
On the Beyer Speed Figure scale, Ginger Punch earned a raw figure of 114. In her two previous starts, she had earned Beyers of 104 and 103 and this appeared to be a roughly similar performance, deserving of a variant of around -10 that would have given her a final Beyer of 104. But Lawyer Ron’s raw figure in the Whitney was an astronomical 138, and applying a variant of -10 again would give him an implausible figure of 128, a level reached only by Ghostzapper in the last decade.
Awarding Lawyer Ron a 128 would mean giving runner-up Wanderin Boy, who had never exceeded a figure of 107 except at Keeneland (where he earned figures of 110 and 113 when that track was in its pre-Polytrack inside-speed heyday), a figure of nearly 120. Diamond Stripes, with consistent figures of 104-105-106-105 in his last four starts, would get about a 117.
Per Crist they won’t award [Lawyer Ron] a 123 speed figure and the Beyer Associates are sticking with the wrong-headed 116. Plus some comments on the challenge to the NYRA figure:
No one was trying to denigrate Lawyer Ron, NYRA or thoroughbred racing in general by saying that the times of Saturday’s races did not fit together, and identical questions would have been raised had the winner been any other horse in the field. And I find nothing sacrilegious about questioning a timing system where, as several posters noted, a certifiably inaccurate first quarter of 21 and change was posted during the running of the Diana 90 minutes earlier in the day.
One thing the flap illustrates, not that additional impetus was needed, is the need for NYRA to install the Trakus system as soon as it can.
I don’t see any issue in questioning the time but when a horse utterly shatters a record for the distance at Saratoga and garners just a 116 something is rotten in Denmark 
I know I’m late to the party but I have to put in a big old BOO-YAH! for Diabolical and his win in the Alfred Vanderbuilt (GII) on Sat.
We bred him and still own the mare. His 2 year old half brother Sherman (The Shermanator) is sitting outside my window all sunburnt and sassy, finally on the downhill side of a horrible and life threatening bout of sinking and rotating founder.
So, I was yelling and screaming when Diabolical hit the lead and pulled away from Attila’s Storm.
Diabolical has his ticket to the BC and so do I!!!
His next race is the Vosburgh GI at Belmont. If you are watching the race, make sure you cheer him home. He is (IMHO :D) the best 6f horse in the country.
[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;2596786]
I know I’m late to the party but I have to put in a big old BOO-YAH! for Diabolical and his win in the Alfred Vanderbuilt (GII) on Sat.
We bred him and still own the mare. His 2 year old half brother Sherman (The Shermanator) is sitting outside my window all sunburnt and sassy, finally on the downhill side of a horrible and life threatening bout of sinking and rotating founder.
So, I was yelling and screaming when Diabolical hit the lead and pulled away from Attila’s Storm.
Diabolical has his ticket to the BC and so do I!!!
His next race is the Vosburgh GI at Belmont. If you are watching the race, make sure you cheer him home. He is (IMHO :D) the best 6f horse in the country.[/QUOTE]
I’m glad to hear the Shermanator is doing better! I remember reading his story on the 2 year old thread on SHB back in the days when we could brag…
Congrats! Did I see his younger sib, Mt Orient, entered to go at SAR either Wed, or THU?
I can’t recall which.
I love Diabolical, he’s as honest as they come and runs over anything.
Great picture of Diabolical on his win from the Albany Times Union, below is link and pictures are in the right corner under photos of Sartaoga
Perhaps it is just me but does anyone else who is from or near the Saratoga area (Central NY for that matter) chuckle when folks describe it as being “up in the mountains”? I tend to see this all the time in print or even comments by TVG folks. Sure the Adirondacks can be visually seen but Spa is not in the mountains. Hilly? Sure, rolling hills abound once you leave Tarrytown and go further north, but mountains? Come on, please.
You have the ranges of the Berkshires, Catskills, and Adirondacks but the former two aren’t exactly the Andes and while the latter has some very high peaks you’d have to go several hours north of Saratoga to find yourself in need of a carabiner
Is there any more news about The Green Monkey and when he might run? Has anyone seen him during morning workouts?
LOL-yes makes me laugh when anyone thinks north of the Tappen Z is Upstate NY.
If they said the “Foothills of the Adirondacks”, I would feel better still not accurate but close, but not the “Adirondacks”, do they think Saratoga is in the high peaks?
Blacklabs, now Little Falls is really mountainous if you’re looking up at the Burrell Overlook Mansion - 
I wonder if there will be any impact with Bob Baffert potentially having 25 horses pointed towards Saratoga - if this article is correct in suggesting Mr. Grumpy (Ahmed Zayat) is fleeing East in his snit with the DelMar folks.
Obviously with stall space being at a premium greater then platinum metal is to zinc they’ll have a slim to none chance of being stabled at Saratoga. However NYRA will ship horses for free from Belmont if they stable there.
I’d be hardpressed to recall when Bob was a player at Saratoga. Sure he’s had some winners (Point Given took the Travers in 2001) but he’s really not a Spa kind of guy like Zito is.
Baffert’s horses sure are performing horribly at Del Mar - he’s 1-20 on polytrack, and the win the article references on Monday was on the TURF. They weren’t running well on the new track at Hollywood Park either, but actually I don’t think they were really running well at Santa Anita in the Spring…JMO. Good luck to them in Saratoga, but good for Del Mar people for standing up to Zayat…a zero breakdown rate so far on the new track HAS to be good for racing, even if it’s not been kind to Baffert and Zayat’s pockets.
Indian Charlie made me laugh the other day:
"
“Bruce Headley is STILL 0 for polytrack”
Source: Polytrack Expert Bob Bobblehead Baffert "
[QUOTE=Glimmerglass;2598114]
You have the ranges of the Berkshires, Catskills, and Adirondacks but the former two aren’t exactly the Andes and while the latter has some very high peaks you’d have to go several hours north of Saratoga to find yourself in need of a carabiner ;)[/QUOTE]
Don’t tell me you’d free climb the Shawangunks?
