Impressions of Saturday’s Major Races
October 3rd, 2010By Jude T. Feld
Does Lookin At Lucky really stack up with the likes of Zenyatta and Blame?BENOIT PHOTO
GIRALAMO was visually impressive winning the Vosburgh (G1). He showed more speed than usual and made the powerful late run that I expected. He certainly moved way up on my Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) list.
No doubt the rain-softened turf affected the Flower Bowl (G1). Very disappointing effort by SHARED ACCOUNT. FOREVER TOGETHER should be retired immediately. She just isn’t the same mare she was a year ago.
LIFE AT TEN rebounded from her puzzling run in the Personal Ensign (G1) to win the Beldame (G1). It seems like the Belmont surface was very speed-favoring on the day and PERSISTENLY finished well against the bias, albeit not close to the winner.
WINCHESTER looked good running by PADDY O’PRADO in the Joe Hirsch (G1). Trainer Christophe Clement has him in top form right now. PADDY left us with some questions – Can he go a mile and a half? Did the turf hinder him? Is he tired?
I think HAYNESFIELD was promoted by a speed-favoring surface in the Jockey Club Gold Cup (G1), especially in light of the way the final race of the day was won. BLAME, who never really seemed to relish the going, was given too much to do by Garrett Gomez but ran on well against the bias. I am upgrading his performance. RAIL TRIP, who raced in an aluminum pad, was obviously not 100%.
Some guy tweeted that ZENYATTA was sweaty and needed to be retired. If that’s all it took, I would have been collecting social security for years. She ran her usual race in the Lady’s Secret (G1) – doing just enough to win and saving the rest for “when the whole world is watching.â€
LOOKING AT LUCKY proved once again that he is the best three-year-old in the United States with a resounding victory in the Indiana Derby (G2). It will be interesting to see how he stacks up to a couple of genuine racehorses – ZENYATTA and BLAME in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1).
