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Santa Anita - Race 4
#1 Figeac (9/2 ml)
Been waiting for this one to return. I gave him out last time, and here's what i wrote down afterwards:
Figeac (12/7 @ HOL, Race 3)
4yo gelding was claimed out of his debut by a guy who rarely does any claiming at all (Rafael Martinez), then was switched to grass and stretched out to two turns in a race where he couldn't be claimed (maiden special weight). Blinkers on here, and as opposed to breaking slowly as he did in his debut, Figeac broke well but also seemed to leap in the air with his head up shorty after the break. Despite that, he moved right up to take the lead into the first turn, but again began throwing his head around and then started drifting very badly towards the outer rail. All the while, he was in complete run-off mode and ended up about 7 lengths in front down the backstretch despite all the problems. The fractions were very fast (as you might expect due to the run-off), a full two seconds faster to the half-mile than a couple of turf allowances at similar distances, also run early on the card. Despite all this, Figeac battled on gamely through the stretch even after being passed by the open-lengths winner Cavanal (who was the 7/5 favorite, btw), and managed to hold on for second in solid time (winner Cavanal received an 84 Beyer). Looks like a horse with a definite future if he can get past his mental shortcomings. Wouldn't surprise me to see the blinkers come back off next time.
So here he is entered back today at the same level (still no tag), and the blinkers are indeed off, as i thought they might be. Espinoza also stays aboard, despite his obvious troubles with this horse last time. He's certainly been training well into today's race (likely with Espinoza aboard, i would think), most recently a bullet 6 furlongs in 1:11 3/5. And the great thing is, there looks to be ZERO opposing speed today. He should get a very soft lead (assuming he doesn't run off again), and you've probably noticed that speed has played extremely well over the turf since the meet started. Really like his chances today.
#1 Figeac (9/2 ml)
Been waiting for this one to return. I gave him out last time, and here's what i wrote down afterwards:
Figeac (12/7 @ HOL, Race 3)
4yo gelding was claimed out of his debut by a guy who rarely does any claiming at all (Rafael Martinez), then was switched to grass and stretched out to two turns in a race where he couldn't be claimed (maiden special weight). Blinkers on here, and as opposed to breaking slowly as he did in his debut, Figeac broke well but also seemed to leap in the air with his head up shorty after the break. Despite that, he moved right up to take the lead into the first turn, but again began throwing his head around and then started drifting very badly towards the outer rail. All the while, he was in complete run-off mode and ended up about 7 lengths in front down the backstretch despite all the problems. The fractions were very fast (as you might expect due to the run-off), a full two seconds faster to the half-mile than a couple of turf allowances at similar distances, also run early on the card. Despite all this, Figeac battled on gamely through the stretch even after being passed by the open-lengths winner Cavanal (who was the 7/5 favorite, btw), and managed to hold on for second in solid time (winner Cavanal received an 84 Beyer). Looks like a horse with a definite future if he can get past his mental shortcomings. Wouldn't surprise me to see the blinkers come back off next time.
So here he is entered back today at the same level (still no tag), and the blinkers are indeed off, as i thought they might be. Espinoza also stays aboard, despite his obvious troubles with this horse last time. He's certainly been training well into today's race (likely with Espinoza aboard, i would think), most recently a bullet 6 furlongs in 1:11 3/5. And the great thing is, there looks to be ZERO opposing speed today. He should get a very soft lead (assuming he doesn't run off again), and you've probably noticed that speed has played extremely well over the turf since the meet started. Really like his chances today.
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