Jessica Chapel / Railbird

The Sheets

So Good It’s Bad

Bind’s super-impressive Saturday debut earns super-figures:

Bind earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 105 for his performance and a Ragozin Data performance figure of 1 1/4, which is so good it’s bad, according to Len Friedman, a partner in Len Ragozin’s The Sheets.

“The history is that it’s a negative, not a positive,” Friedman said Wednesday. “It’s more likely to affect him negatively, but who knows, maybe [Bind] is another Uncle Mo.”

And a bit of skepticism from Mike Watchmaker:

… when a first time starter like Bind apparently runs a hole in the wind, then it is logical to look toward the horses who finished behind him for validation of the big figure. But when the horses who finished behind him all have scant form that is uncertain at best, then the best thing you can do is wait until horses out of the race in question run back. Their subsequent performances will either confirm the big Beyer, or bring it into even greater question.

It’ll be at least a month before the question is answered. Until then, enjoy:

Posted in Racing on February 24, 2011 / Tagged Beyer Speed Figures, Big Figs, Bind, Debuts, Fair Grounds, Speed Figures, The Sheets / Comments Off

Always More

From The Rail (NYT), 6/4/2009:

… thoroughbreds put out bigger efforts these days than their muscles, ligaments, suspension systems and bones can easily sustain. Their physical structure is tested to the utmost to maintain the speed they can now achieve with modern training methods.

From the Thoroughbred Record (HotC, p. 163), 6/3/1911:

Somebody once asked a famous Kentucky turfman what was the chief requisite in the makeup of a great racehorse, and the answer was “speed.”

“And what was after that?” was the next question.

“More speed,” was the reply.

Posted in Commonplace on June 16, 2009 / Tagged Len Ragozin, Racing History, Speed, Speed Figures, Speed Notes, The Sheets, Time / Comments Off