I agree on the first point – it does not look like he has trained on. Just to be picky, as far as I am aware, he is still in The Derby entries. I cannot see him taking in the Jersey as I expect that would attract a Group 1 penalty. They should just go straight back to six furlongs for the Jubilee. Having won over six and seven, they know he can go that far. The “he does not stay a mile” excuse is a bit old hat, but who knows. Stoute figured it out quickly for Ajdal and he was a successful sprinter.
'Air Force Poo' - What a load of bollocks. Champion 2 year old who just hasn't happened to train on. Doesn't make him 'poo' as you say. Just makes him a horse.
Okay, let me get very picky: you can say that you are not going to pay the fee at the next acceptance stage, but until that date you still retain an entry for the race. They could change their minds. Like you, I expect that they will not pay, so he is effectively out of The Derby.
Air Force just looks super keen and a bit awkward this year. Very odd. I'd say they might need to give him a proper break and bring him back gradually. Remember if we wrote horses off after two runs beyond their 2 Y O career, St Nicholas Abbey would never have won a BC Turf, Coronation Cup, or Sheema Classic. They can come back but if you rush them to a Guineas when they're not ready, it takes time to come back.
The pace on both sides of Nyquist proved his downfall and ultimately the winning of the Preakness for Exaggerator tonight. They set an unbelievable pace for the first 1/4 mile with Nyquist getting sucked into the pace dual...running 5 furlong fractions, 22 seconds for the 1/4...pretty much knew his race was done there. Fair play to Exaggerator but everything fell right with the conditions and pace setting it up sweetly for him, I'd still take Nyquist as the superior horse.
Yes, quite right, STH, Exaggerator adapted to the mysterious (for us) 'sloppy' conditions much better than all of the others. The winner did run a very good race in the Kentucky Derby, was closing all the time. The Belmont Stakes will eventually tell all? Oh, that American commentator, classic......
Who wrote off SNA Toppy? I recall commenting after the 2000 Gns that it was a very encouraging run over a distance too short. I never gave up on that horse. And as for being rushed into a Guineas when they're not ready, I would say change trainers. My thoughts on AOB won't be repeated but it's no secret I'm not a fan.
Ron I certainly know you remained an SNA fan but many, many observers wrote him off and I always remember his Diamond Ormonde win at Chester that catapulted him back into the reckoning with Nick Luck immediately commenting 'He swings open the doors of the last chance saloon'
