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Thanks str. Yes, that's the type of hierarchy I'm interested in. For handicapping (value) purposes I'm inclined to divide a herd into three groups. The top dogs. Everybody knows who they are (and...

Str, I'm trying to learn a little more about herd hierarchy. You mentioned early on in the thread that horses run faster for some jockeys than others, which I found very intriguing. Do you know of...

I'm glad that this concept, of visualizing the race from all angles, is part of the program that your insights allowed me to write. It contains and combines a lot of information, but not all...

Maybe I need to read the forms a little more. Got it down to where I only cared about running type, tied to form-of-day.

I figured that stretching out, cutting back, and dropping down are already...

str, for a pace picture, would you consider a horse that runs in a rating speed position, but never wins and tends to fall back from there, as a rating speed or as a stalker? The horse doesn't...

str, for a pace picture, would you consider a horse that runs in a rating speed position, but never wins and tends to fall back from there, as a rating speed or as a stalker? The horse can still put...

lol. The rock music anecdote is classic. Thanks for the insight. It put me right there, at the scene. Food for thought, and I will let it sink in. Figuring out what a horse likes nowadays falls...

Glad to know that, str.

One of the great things of horse racing is that one can really zero in on the sweet spots.

The sections of my program that I enjoy working with the most are the pace...

Thanks str. Much appreciated.

Losing a few times by a nose will fix a lot of things. lol (hence my study of luck)

I never really realized how polarizing the whole drug business can be until...

Thanks str,

I think I would be paranoid about the security of horses in their barns. Does such fear exist among trainers?

Medicine, as the present world is showcasing, is a highly volatile...

Five years in prison for one of the cheaters: ...

Thanks str. Great insight, as always.

I've been slow to 'attack' Baffert for two reasons.
1) my mentor told me that the big trainers, like Pletcher and Baffert, get first shot at the best...

<br>I don't get how horse racing keeps shooting itself in the foot. Baffert did train two TC winners that lifted the sport to new levels of popularity. But everybody is talking about an overage...

nm.

I wasn't aware of that.

I'm more confused now, because you had also pointed out that the upper echelon of the trainers would not risk their reputation, because they would have nothing to gain...

Strange things are happening in California ever since the rather weird (as in daughter suing daddy) Stronach Group took over Santa Anita and Golden Gates. The two most successful trainers -...

It looks like the cause was identified. So the horse will probably be DQ-ed, but at least it's a reasonable explanation.

from the linked article:

Do I believe that story? Not really.
...

I don't know. I just have a hard time believing that a trainer who has recently won two TC's would be so stupid that he would hit that overage out of the park, and for the biggest race of the year,...

Thanks str! What a great reply. It's almost like walking around the stables and being shown the ropes. Much appreciated.

Hey str, long time.

I just have a question about horse shoes. Who does this job normally, and is it a precision job or more of a routine job without too much attention to detail? Reason I'm...

It's beautiful. I've read it several times. Good to know there are trainers like that out there (you must have been one of them, or you couldn't have noticed all that detail).

I have an unusual...

Thanks for such a detailed description, str. Hope they catch the criminals who planted the evidence, and that it's not too late for him to get his life back.

https://pastthewire.com/rick-dutrow/

What a horrible injustice.

He never had a horse breaking down. Confirmed in the above article. Can you put that in perspective str? It seems amazing...

Wow...

From article: “This is a reaffirmation of my remarks of several years ago during Rick Dutrow’s violation hearing,” stated Bramlage, widely regarded as one of the world’s leading equine...

nm.

Very beautiful explanation. The art of bringing out the best in others, and the joy found in that. You're a good man, str. That's a formula of how to live a fulfilling life. Happy belated...

If they're going to allow the Belmont Stakes to be turned into the ultimate lying-in-wait type of race, then they're asking for these type of counter strategies. The solution would be simple. One...

Great to have a TC winner. Gronkowski had a dream trip. Do you think he could have gotten to Justify if he had changed leads earlier?

Last time in the money was 3rd in a 56K AOC on 4/22/18, earning about 6K.

Not the form, as such, but the race history where you click on each race: http://www.equibase.com/profiles/Results.cfm?type=Horse&refno=9670840&registry=T&rbt=TB

Thanks str. I felt like I was probably overthinking things because it would be hard to predict the scenario. But many times I see a short to medium priced closer starting to make his move, and then...

probably overthinking things, so removed question.

Spring cleaning here, so trying to look at things in new ways and set a few new parameters. Just doing the old thing is boring. I'm thinking about focusing only on races that are set up for...

Greetings str. Generally speaking, without track bias, would you say that pace plays a bigger role on turf than on dirt?

I bet on him the day before the BC, and missed out on the exacta because of it. No big deal, of course. I thought I'd give a heads up, because he's a big name rider who may not be at his normal...

BC note - Gary Stevens these days is a fade in my book. It's not anything new, because it's been going on all year, but for some reason he's getting so much respect that nobody is mentioning it. ...

It does. Thanks. My main focus will be on the turf races and somewhat time consuming ticket construction to try to catch some of the tri or superfectas. It will be clear soon enough if the dirt is...

Thanks. It's the most inconsistent track I've come across, so I'm probably a little paranoid. Every meet they change something. Love Del Mar (good memories of the photo in my picture), but just...

Str, BC week already. The fall meet starts Wednesday, so just a few days to monitor the surface. It could be a big advantage to have a good read on the dirt. Del Mar is not like other tracks. You...

Thanks str. It's going to be a time investment to get the trainer part done right, and I don't have that time now, so that's why I backed off on the question. I know that the patterns are there, in...

Str, if it's not too late I'm dropping the trainer question. It's one of those areas where I have to put in the work to find out. There's probably a lot about it in the thread, so I'll do a search...

The game through the eyes of trainers. I wasn't quite ready before to tackle that topic. Unlike the horses and jockeys, who can be seen at work, handicapping the trainers is more indirect. How many...

Thanks. A better answer than the question deserved. I was wondering why a trainer like Graham Motion has a lot of focus on turf horses, where someone like Baffert is focused on the dirt.

I'm...

str, what's the reason that trainers can have a clear preference for turf or dirt?

We'll put it on the back burner, as unlikely but not entirely impossible.

I have to say, though, that the KY Derby has lost some of its appeal since the new point system selects the field. Ever...

It sounds like the stuff that movies are made of.

Do you ever regret walking away? (have you ever thought of going back? - don't you know the guys here could team up, buy a horse, and win the...

'Almost unfair advantage' is right, and holds true across the board in any field. When you breathe it in from an early age it runs through your veins and becomes part of you. I didn't know what it...

Gabby is amazing. She just picked four or five straight winners based mostly on her knowledge of trainers and how they think. I tweeted Andy to never take her off the show. That team has a lot of...

Arrogate's exercise rider Martin Garcia just beat Arrogate in the Pacific Classic. lol

lol - thanks again. Did you see the movie 50 to 1 about Mine That Bird? Whoever made that movie was not a Baffert fan.

He probably mellowed out a bit. Especially with American Pharoah. I...