Five Takeaways from the Breeders Cup
By PTF
I hope everyone is recovered from Breeders’ Cup week/weekend. First off, thanks to all of you for tuning in, reading, and especially those of you who supported us through Plus. Plus has never been any kind of tout-y money grab – JK and I always have and still always will give away our opinions for free. What Plus offers is two-fold – a chance for us to go deeper and provide more info from more sources. AND a chance for us to raise more money so we can continue to do what we do. It’s a bit like a public radio/TV model – if you like the content and want to ensure it keeps coming, please support us through Plus. Not just at Derby and BC, but all year long.
Next, I want to say how pleased I am with the coverage we did at ITM (with one exception I’ll get to). I thought we provided a ton of great info on the free and paid sides of things. There will be a whole separate email highlighting the plus content, but on the free side in particular I want to shout out the Pro Player Show for pointing people in the direction of Magnum Force and Starlust, Vanessa and Matt C’s confident selection of Sierra Leone in our content for Breeders’ Cup, my own ideas for verticals in the Classic (I mentioned all five in the SH5) on Final Answers, and also JK’s correct idea that Lake Victoria was the best horse to build around all weekend.
OK, that one exception. My voice. Granted, I had a cold last week and that didn’t help. But it’s more than that. I have been dealing with larynx issues since May. At the risk of getting too technical/medical, these issues are exacerbated by acid reflux, but there’s something more fundamental going on, likely brought on by talking too much for too long, too loud. I am currently working with a voice coach to re-train myself so I can be on air in a healthier way. I also need vocal rest to help the healing process. This means you’ll be hearing a bit less of me – definitely during this relatively quiet time coming up. I’ll still be doing shows, but I am looking to talk on air maybe an hour a week instead of four to five. And I think a few weeks of total off-air time might help. I’ll still be involved writing and behind the scenes and due to the brilliant work of people like Mike Pribozie and Nick Tammaro, the content won’t miss a beat. Hell, I might Wally Pipp myself (google it, kids).
Now on to the takeaways!
I RATE FIERCENESS AS BEING BETTER THAN SIERRA LEONE, BUT NOT BY MUCH
As I said before the Classic, I didn’t understand the Sierra Leone hate. He’s been patently against the flow in those last two Saratoga runs and with loads of speed in the Classic, I expected him to get a setup. I didn’t expect him to get THIS good of a setup. Derma Sotogake did a pop and stop routine and Fierceness, as expected, was just off him (TFUS Paceline: 160-148-134-132). This was logical from Johnny. JK had reported on the shows that one of the keys to Fierceness was to just let him roll – it didn’t work earlier on when he was asked to rate. It was the right plan, and it nearly worked – I just think the 10 furlongs found him having to run so much faster early. (Honorable mention goes to Forever Young, who also ran huge. He was up on that pace and stuck around to the end).
If you’re an ITM Plus subscriber, thanks again for supporting and we hope you continue to enjoy our content! For the free subs, by signing up for ITM Plus you’ll read more about what PTF thinks Fierceness will accomplish in the future, his thoughts on the City of Troy Experiment, his analysis of Thorpedo Anna’s win, and he answers an early Derby question – how strong is Bob Baffert’s hand?