Tim, go back aways in some of my blogs :) Said there was a good possiblility he could take hold of the division since the top races were on his stomping grounds and his breed sugests he would get better as he gets older and more distance.
Stay Thirsty..solid performance. Wish I just had money on him. Hope he stays healthy and keeps getting better for BC Classic..we know he can run the distance.
Stay Thirsty becoming this good really is surprising to me. There was some Hype attached to him but if someone said hed win the Dandy/Travers id have said NO way.... Good Job STAY THIRSTY you are for real!!
CauseForConcern: I made no mention of who is the better horse! Since you choose to answer an honest statement with your usual sarcasm PLEASEread my post again. It did not state, could have, should have, would have, etc. It stated, DID NOT in reference to times . What is your problem?
Well, you can mark this down. When it comes to the BCC, if Stay Thirsty is in the race, and so is To Honor And Serve, I'll put my money on the THAS. He was dominant as a 2 yr old, ran in the Derby preps this year, and then was sidelined. If he comes back, I think he's the better horse. I could be blowing in the wind, but that's where I'm going. Nice to know that Wm Mott has a horse, since he's not much of a trainer(sic). And, by the way, he closed in :37.99 for the last 3 furlongs, when he was pulling away, despite the fact that he was opening up 8 1/2 lengths. I believe he can go under 26 for the last 2 furlongs.
For the last 2 seasons to the best of my knowledge no horse has run faster than 26: in the last quarter of a route Including last year when it was almost a dead heat and they were 8 lengths in front of 3rd place finisher First Dude. That is a very tiring track and is the reason you have only 25% winners coming from deep closers.
I love your feedback, DeadHeat, but, if he's 8 1/2 at the finish, he's on cruise control. He doesn't have to turn on the after burners. It's all his race. He could've run faster.
THAS ran his final quarter in 13 and 1. He was slowing and the track was taking effect.
Again, you never know. The field he beat was a weak on. Stay Thirsty ran 9f in right around the same time as THAS. What was his final eighth? He may have been cruising, but just because he looked powerful against a weaker field does not say he would dominate at 10f against graded winners while getting pace pressure that long.
How about this? In comparing the races of yesterday and the day before, THAS would have to run the additional 1/8 of a mile in 14.73 seconds, to equal ST's Travers time. With the way he was opening up(winning by 8 lengths), I think he could better the Travers time.
My bad. I was looking at the Travers chart.
I understand your point, but, the charts indicate that Stay Thirsty was no worse than 2nd at the 1/2 & 3/4 mark, one length off the lead. He led at every other call. Based on the chart, he ran the same type of race.
two different races. THAS was right up on the pace the whole way, Stay Thirsty let others set it in front of him. The pace was much quicker throughout, which suggest that Stay Thirsty quickened much better later. Both won with plenty in reserve, but you cannot compare the two races when they were won by two contrasting styles.
He ran a great race, but, did anyone notice that To Honor And Serve bested his 1 1/8 time in the Jim Dandy, just the day before, in a Allow Opt Claiming? He is dominating in NY, but he resembles Albert The Great and Easy Goer, in that aspect. He'll have to go back to Churchill. Hope you're right Michael and DeadHeat.
I think now that he has come into his own that he will be fine out of state. He did have excuses in his two non efforts. He's grown up a lot now, he'll be fine.
Stay Thirsty can run anywhere or any state. J W Blue had the antithisis of a nice trip
Great race. Coil dead last and no real factor. Rattlesnake Bridge and JW Blue had some nice trips and made the exotics healthy. Liked what I saw from all of the contenders who hit the board.
He sure loves New York and especially Saratoga! Can he run the same out of town?
In my mind, Stay Thirsty just stamped himself as the #1 contender among the American horses for this year's Breeders Cup Classic!! This horse hits the lead and just keeps rolling like a locomotive with that long, powerful stride of his. It's often said that 1-1/4 at Churchill Downs is as testing as it is anywhere. Because of that long, forever Churchill Downs straight. But after seeing Stay Thirsty handle 1-1/2 in the slop in this year's Belmont Stakes. I don't believe stamina is going to be an issue for him at all in the Classic. After that 1-1/4 in the Travers today, Stay Thirsty looked like he could have gone around the Saratoga oval again, to me!! JMO.