Oxbow next time out

george8kl

Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, ran an exceptional race in the Derby. Considering the rapid pace, gooey going, and general mayhem of a 19 horse field, Oxbow and Stevens went about their business in a most professional manner. Running in the lead pack, making a middle move to be second at the mile mark, then finishing evenly to be a below-the radar sixth, makes Oxbow an intriguing speculation next time out, regardless of the race.

DiscreetCat

Thanks for the post, i'll definitely take a look.

And welcome to HRT, btw... :toast:

fbwinners

george8kl wrote: »

Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, ran an exceptional race in the Derby. Considering the rapid pace, gooey going, and general mayhem of a 19 horse field, Oxbow and Stevens went about their business in a most professional manner. Running in the lead pack, making a middle move to be second at the mile mark, then finishing evenly to be a below-the radar sixth, makes Oxbow an intriguing speculation next time out, regardless of the race.

I agree, he didn't back up that much wiht the pace factor.

SirBear

Oxbow must be a tired horse. Wise guys will be all over him because he hung around for sixth after being close to the insane pace, but look at how many efforts he has had this year. No reason to back him in the Preakness at 8-1 or whatever, but good luck if you do. Even if he finishes last you know Lukas will wheel the poor animal right back in the Belmont.

dirtyshirt

SirBear wrote: »

Oxbow must be a tired horse. Wise guys will be all over him because he hung around for sixth after being close to the insane pace, but look at how many efforts he has had this year. No reason to back him in the Preakness at 8-1 or whatever, but good luck if you do. Even if he finishes last you know Lukas will wheel the poor animal right back in the Belmont.

Lukas being Lukas.

dirtyshirt

dirtyshirt wrote: »

Lukas being Lukas.

Dirty being Dirty. Egg on my face.

BUT, Titletown Five had no place in the race.

george8kl

george8kl wrote: »

Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, ran an exceptional race in the Derby. Considering the rapid pace, gooey going, and general mayhem of a 19 horse field, Oxbow and Stevens went about their business in a most professional manner. Running in the lead pack, making a middle move to be second at the mile mark, then finishing evenly to be a below-the radar sixth, makes Oxbow an intriguing speculation next time out, regardless of the race.

Lukas and Stevens have had quite the history in the Preakness, and Calumet is back as well.

Dixie winner was the long priced half of an uncoupled entry, and combined with Oxbow in the

big race, made for a sweet Daily Double indeed. On to Belmont !

rayphil

Nice call George...hope you had him.

DiscreetCat

Brilliant call, and congratulations!!!!

DiscreetCat

Btw, i thought i saw ESPN flash a stat yesterday saying that this was the first time a horse has wired the Preakness in about 30 years. I know it's been about 12 years since a horse wired the Derby (War Emblem).

Mikenyce

Didnt Zitos horse Louis Quartore go wire to wire? I think that was about 15 years ago

okjac12

george8kl wrote: »

Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas, ran an exceptional race in the Derby. Considering the rapid pace, gooey going, and general mayhem of a 19 horse field, Oxbow and Stevens went about their business in a most professional manner. Running in the lead pack, making a middle move to be second at the mile mark, then finishing evenly to be a below-the radar sixth, makes Oxbow an intriguing speculation next time out, regardless of the race.

Sir, I have to tell you, that race was all Gary Steven, tactics and all!Just the race before he won with another Lucas longshot!

okjac12

that race was a fluke. No other horse went wire to wire the entire day, I believe they changed the surface at pimlico, because the surface use to be speed favoring!

JohnnyPutz

I could have ridden my bike faster than those fractions lol. No disrespect to Oxbow, he ran a perfect race, and was best. Nobody else had a shot after 3/4 mark, someone needed to put some pressure on Oxbow, and it just didnt happen. Congrats to Gary Stevens.

george8kl

JohnnyPutz wrote: »

I could have ridden my bike faster than those fractions lol. No disrespect to Oxbow, he ran a perfect race, and was best. Nobody else had a shot after 3/4 mark, someone needed to put some pressure on Oxbow, and it just didnt happen. Congrats to Gary Stevens.

If you calculate Orb's fractional splits in the Derby, they are virtually identical to Oxbow's in the Preakness.
No, Oxbow wasn't flying up front and wire to wire, but neither did Orb 'close like a big train" in the Derby.
Wire to wire and come from behind are optical illusions, dependent on pace and class - class laughs at pace!

DiscreetCat

Mikenyce wrote: »

Didnt Zitos horse Louis Quartore go wire to wire? I think that was about 15 years ago

Funny you mention Louis Quatorze. That's exactly the horse i thought of when i saw that stat. He might've been slightly off the pace though, i can't remember. I do remember that i had a Derby future on him that year (35/1, i think). He ran like garbage in the Derby and then came back and won the Preakness in fast time. Ran well in the Breeders Cup Classic that year, too (either 2nd or 3rd behind Alphabet Soup, with the other horse being Cigar).