Hurley Horse Happenings - Dagger

[DevilHorse]

Folks,

I noticed this very interesting series of harness races being held at Pocono Downs.
They run a series of Late Closers, which are races that owners put up some money (stakes payment), a couple of months in advance of the races, and then they get to race in divisions of similarly qualified horses for greater purses and perhaps for multiple weeks. This is useful since it is sometimes hard to get your horse a starting spot week after week.

Anyway, I noticed the Duke vs. NC (sic) late closer the other day and investigated it, and found an interesting explanation for the race's title:

DUKE-NORTH CAROLINA PACE: The Trackman’s brother is a Duke alumnus, so I hear about this rivalry every Sunday at dinner. Tuesday’s two divisions of this medium-priced claiming-series were both won by favorites. Four Starzzzz Opus was as smooth as Johnny Dawkins jumper, going gate-to-wire for a win in 1:55, and then Fox Valley Assault, the Monticello shipper, powered out of the pocket like Tyler Hansbrough going for an offensive rebound to win his split in 1:55:1. (I know I dated myself with the first reference, but the second tells you that I’m pumped for college hoops to begin.)

Other rivalry races include the Yankees/Red Sox pace, the Bird/Magic pace, the Michigan/Ohio State Trot, and the Tiger/Phil pace.

If you'd like to read up on the other races, click here:
http://www.poconodowns.com/staticPre...sp?id=10192006

Larry

[DevilHorse]

Greetings equine efficionados,

Bob Hurley's 2 year old filly Dagger will be racing in the Selima Stakes at Laurel. This is the filly companion stake race to the once great Laurel Futurity. These races have lost their stature a bit with the advent of the Breeders Cup. I can remember taking a trip up to Laurel, right after my first semester mid-terms to see the Laurel Futurity (only a 4 hour drive). On that day I saw a precocious Spectacular Bid beat the following year's foe General Assembly in that race. That was probably the race where we knew Bid wasn't a fluke.

Anyhow, here is the Past Performance Page, courtesy of BrisWatch:
http://www.brisnet.com/bris_link/pdfs/vinery_95200.pdf

There are a couple of fillies who look as good if not better than Dagger on paper, but this is a time of the year when, much like our freshman basketball players, some of these 2 year olds find themselves and announce they have arrived.

Larry
DH

[DevilHorse]

Well, Dagger did a nice job getting a 4th place check. The players sent Dagger out at 30 to 1, but she did a good job finishing 5 lengths back.

This was a turf race, so it was something new for Dagger. She started the race just off the pace (in 2nd) and held on pretty well. I'd look for her to continue to gain in strength and be a good stakes caliber 3 year old.

Here is the chart, courtesy of Brisnet:
http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/insta...e=inc&print=on

Larry
DevilHorse

[CameronBlue]

Larry,

For those of us without your horse sense, please explain the difference between a turf race and a stakes race. Thanks.

[Lavabe]

Larry,

For those of us without your horse sense, please explain the difference between a turf race and a stakes race. Thanks.

TURF refers to the type of track surface. In this case (Dagger's most recent race), they ran on the turf (grass), as opposed to the dirt.

STAKES refers to the quality of competition: Maiden (non-winners), Claiming, Allowance, Stakes, Graded Stakes, and Handicap refer to different levels of competition ... and within these categories, you can have other levels. You can also find different levels based on where the horses were bred (e.g., stakes races for horses bred in a track's state).

Weights that the horses carry may be adjusted in each of the levels ... whereas many stakes races adjust weight by age or sex of the horse, the track decides on the weight in the case of handicaps.

SO, you may have a stakes race on the turf. But not all races on the turf are stakes quality. Likewise, not all stakes races are on the turf.

Cheers,
Lavabe

[DevilHorse]

TURF refers to the type of track surface. In this case (Dagger's most recent race), they ran on the turf (grass), as opposed to the dirt.

STAKES refers to the quality of competition: Maiden (non-winners), Claiming, Allowance, Stakes, Graded Stakes, and Handicap refer to different levels of competition ... and within these categories, you can have other levels. You can also find different levels based on where the horses were bred (e.g., stakes races for horses bred in a track's state).

Weights that the horses carry may be adjusted in each of the levels ... whereas many stakes races adjust weight by age or sex of the horse, the track decides on the weight in the case of handicaps.

SO, you may have a stakes race on the turf. But not all races on the turf are stakes quality. Likewise, not all stakes races are on the turf.

Cheers,
Lavabe

Lavabe is 100% correct in his statements (thank you).

I'll add a few comments.

There are turf pedigrees and dirt pedigrees, so some horses might be more apt, or have potential, based on their parentage. Size of hoof and style of gait can work better on the turf than dirt.

Turf races tend to be longer than dirt races, and as such, they are usually run
differently. Turf races, on average, have a paced race where there is relatively little movement in the field, until you get in the home stretch where a mad sprint appears. Dirt racing more often has a few horses that try to burn the rest of the horses on the front end (evident by there rarely being any negative splits [faster last quarter than earlier quarters] in dirt races).

Some horses excel on both surfaces (Secretariat set world records on the dirt and turf, and he had both a dirt (Bold Ruler) and turf (Princequillo as broodmare sire) in his pedigree. And others "wake up" on either surface and "stink" on the other. John Henry, a multi-millionaire and horse of the year, was average on the dirt; when he went on the "weeds" he became the best turfer in this country.

Keep those cards and letters coming.

Larry

[CameronBlue]

Thanks guys.

[throatybeard]

John Henry just died, didn't he?