11/09/2011
In reflection, what a wonderful Breeders’ Cup event we had this past Friday and Saturday. As you all must know I was so impressed with Stephanie’s Kitten on Friday with her Ferrari like run through the stretch, being so very fast and quite nimble as well — negotiating traffic at high speed! There were many other outstanding efforts on Friday, some of which I will be discussing with Ralph on Race Day Las Vegas on Wednesday morning — tune in if you have a chance about 9:30 AM PT call letters-KSHP if you go to Warpradio.com for the listen.
However, I must make a special mention to the run by Caleb’s Posse. He ran the 2nd fastest(highest) number and horse has run in the BC races since I began making numbers in 1992. Caleb ran an amazing 83.5, 2nd only to the great Skip Away who ran an 84.3. Of course, it should be noted that Skip Away ran his number at the distance of 1 1/4 mile which is a bit more impressive than earning an equivalent figure at a shorter distance. None the less, it’s a fantastic performance and one we should all keep in our minds-eye. Just a note, Ghostzapper ran an 83.0 with the aid of a nice inside speed bias, which is another factor to consider when handicapping and evaluating races. One of the items in the check list on Caleb’s Posse’s performance is a sense that he beat a field that ultimately was pretty spread eagled, but still competitive when the brilliant Shakleford finally ran his best race at his best distance. Shak is a true miler and if they can get over their wishes and hopes, he should dominate this distance all next year and possibly many years to come, because he really stands up to a great deal of racing. AS those who followed my seminar know, I thought Trappe Shot was a great bet, but he seemed a very well beaten 3rd. At first I was pretty disappointed, but after the variant adjusted speed numbers popped out of my computer, I was really okay with the result. He ran slightly better than the number I had predicted.
There is a lesson in this, while I don’t like losing a bet anymore than anyone else, if the horse I bet, runs better than my prediction, and the horse gets beat. It’s okay. I just want to bet horses at fair prices that run to their potential. So Trappe Shot gave me a good run for my money, but we didn’t get to cash in this case as Caleb Posse and Shackleford just jumped up and ran sensational races… My hat is off to them and their connections.-great job by them.