Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

JayB — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 00:58:23 GMT

The Million lst year seems to have had better horses than who are entered this year, no prescious passion with his 10 lenght lead collapsing in the stretch, I feel the race in Dubai took something away from Gio and getting beat by stablemate Winchester who had a much easier trip was fine, but the Man o War where he closed from harness racing fractions proved he is still the number one turf horse in america and possibly the world. He should be flying at the end, watch last years race as a reminder how good he can be, took the lead at the top of the stretch and opened a few lengths and then 2 horses looked to challenge but jockey hit him once or twice and it was all over. He will be the champ again!!!!!!!!!!!!

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Tiznowbaby — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 07:02:03 GMT

Thanks Greg J.

Funny enough, I had just come from facebook and was going to answer my own question :)

Fingers crossed for this horse.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

LAZMANNICK — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 04:16:12 GMT

Greg J.

Thanks for the news. It is much more encouraging although we can never take anything for granted until he completely recovers.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Greg J. — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:11:43 GMT

Tiznowbaby,

Latest info on Global Hunter:

"Dr. Herthel and Dr. Judy removed Global Hunter's cast yesterday and were very pleased with what they saw. There is no infection of the wound and the xrays are clean! This was one of the more important hurdles to clear because the incision needed for the operation was a large one (40 staples), and due to the swelling of the area it was very difficult for the surgeons to get the skin stitched back. We credit the skill of the medical team involved for this achievement, but the doctors point to the advancement of the hardware technology involved....we think we're right."

"Now there is a smaller, softer cast on Global's right front ankle which exposes his foot and gives him more control and feel of the reconstructed ankle. This will be a little less comfortable for him in the beginning until he acclimates. For that reason Global will be even more closely monitered to make sure he continues to bear equal weight on all four legs. So far the horse is showing the same focus and determination as a patient as he did in the stretch of the 2010 American Handicap."

You can follow his progression on facebook...

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Tiznowbaby — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:33:40 GMT

Off topic, but does anyone know how Global Hunter is doing with his injury?

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Gio the King — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 02:32:08 GMT

Sailor's Cap was a great horse, he killed everyone in the bog in the Colonial Turf Cup, he absolutely demolished them! Then he returned against Gio Ponti and Court Vision and ran a good third. As a four year old, he ran a huge race to start off his campaign, I think he got a 107 beyer for his win. He would have definitely made an impact last year. I still think last year's crop was one of the best years by far!

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Slew — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:13:57 GMT

Gio the King: I so wish you hadn't mentioned Sailor's Cap. I remember his final race and how good he was. It cast a shadow on my day knowing he was lost too soon.

I still think there are too few mentions of Bourbon Bay, and what is he doing now...when will we see him run again...he's Gio's biggest competition.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

The Rock — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 22:52:37 GMT

GunBow,

How disagree with your statement of Sidney's Candy progression as being stalled. We was coming off a slight layoff and thrown in going 9f's. If the Swaps was a 1/16th of a mile shorter, he wins that race and there's no question about his progression. He was just a short horse going 9f's off the layoff. He was bound to get weary late in the race. I believe he's been ambitiously placed and would believe he'd be better at shorter distances. I believe he'd be very live in a race like the King's Bishop. Especially with that 9f race under his belt. He's got that high crusing speed with a little burst at sprint distances. I hope Sadler & Co. think about the Sprint for him.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

jayjay — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:46:59 GMT

Greg J : Congrats, that's what true handicapping is all about. Finding those types of horses and picking them BEFORE the race. Nice hit!

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Dr Drunkinbum — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:40:50 GMT

Zookeeper

Twirling Candy is definitely a rising star with a great stride. And I'll be shocked if Lava Girl doesn't win Stakes races too. She could be a rising star also. Her demeanor pre race was that of a champion, and it was her first race !!!

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Zookeeper — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:20:55 GMT

Greg J,

Good score! Congratulations!

What's with the weather in the East. Have they moved CT to the mid-west when nobody was looking? For some reason, I don't associate CT with tornadoes... Scary!

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

draynot — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:08:18 GMT

itain'teasy,

At least Zenyatta sticks to G1 races and doesn't get races written for her where she only has to face allowance and former claimers. She's in G1 races and has no control over who comes to get her. RA's schedule this year has been a bigger joke than Zenyatta's ever has been.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Greg J. — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:06:47 GMT

Zookeeper,

Yup! How about that, I wish I had put more then $20 on her to win! What a great race, the funny thing is, I placed the $20 on her before I left work on Youbet, I got home and had no power(We had a tornado in CT. yesterday), couldn't watch the race, when I saw she had a dead heat and went off at 30-1, It sure made having no power and all the downed trees more bearable :)

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Bellwether — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 07:11:38 GMT

SOME REEL GOOD GRA$$ ONE$ HAVE COME THROUGH VA...BACK...BACK...BACK...IT$ COMMING BACK!!!...ty...

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

GunBow — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:27:58 GMT

For those at Del Mar today(opening day), how did Twirling Candy behave in the paddock? Any studdish behavior?

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

GunBow — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 04:26:43 GMT

One must wonder now if Twirling Candy is the best son of Candy Ride in the John Sadler barn.

I few weeks ago I wrote how impressed I was when I saw Twirling Candy romp in a sprint allowance on Cushion Track. He is a tall, rangy horse with a frame that suggests he is only going to get bigger and stronger. He is a horse with great speed, but his pedigree and frame suggest that he should be able to get a distance. From today we know he can at least get a mile.

Twirling Candy had been entered, along with stablemate Sidney's Candy, in last Saturday's Swaps. As I wrote that night, a couple of the TVG analysts expressed to me their belief that Twirling Candy would have comfortably handled Skipshot had he remained in the Swaps. I agreed and even went as far as to suggest that Sadler should have run Twirling Candy in the Swaps and Sidney's Candy in the Oceanside. Given today's results, it's hard to be too critical of Sadler's placement because Twirling Candy obviously relished the Jimmy Durante turf course at Del Mar.

My thinking is that Twirling Candy can run on anything. He was powerful today on turf, but was just as explosive on Hollywood's Cushion Track. Although it's not guaranteed, Twirling Candy's success on Cushion Track gives me confidence that he can run on conventional dirt. Twirling Candy does not have the look nor the racing style of one of these stereotypical late-running synth/turf specialists; instead, he won his synthetic races displaying brilliant speed and the ability to maintain a high cruising speed. Also, it's fairly well accepted that Cushion Track is the closest of the Cali synth surfaces to dirt, and there is a long list of horses that transferred their successful Cushion form to dirt.

As for Twirling Candy possibly bring better than Sidney's Candy, clearly Twirling Candy has much left to accomplish before a comparison to his stablemate is warranted. However, Twirling Candy appears to be a horse on the upswing and with huge potential while it seems Sidney's progression has stalled somewhat. Also, Twirling Candy is a more impressive physical specimen. Sidney is not a small horse; he has a long body and carries alot of muscle in his chest and rump. While of normal length, Sidney is not very tall, and doesn't have those long, rangy legs many of the better distance horses possess. During the stretch run of the Swaps, Skipshot eclipsed Sidney, making Sidney look small pinned on the rail. Twirling, on the other hand, has that tall and rangy look which often portends success at classic distances.

It will be interesting to see how both progress and which races they will be pointed towards. Logically, Sadler indicated that the Del Mar Derby will be Twirling's main summer objective. After that, a return to synth or perhaps a test-run on dirt would certainly make sense.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

GunBow — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 03:24:12 GMT

The Eddie Read field actually has four gr.1 winners. Crowded House won a group 1 as a juvenile back in Europe. His form the last year has been fairly dreadful though.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

sodapopkid — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:05:32 GMT

Am I the only one that can not for the life of me get excited about the LS race that Rachel is going to run in on Saturday? It's no competition there, If they at least had one robust filly/mare in there, at least to make it exciting.

If St. Trinians runs in the Delmar with Zen at least thats EXCITING.

JESS J. is putting her in races thats making people not want to see her race in. BORING

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Zookeeper — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:53:54 GMT

Dr Drunkinbum,

Twirling Candy looked great in only his 3rd race. Undefeated twice on synthetics and now a win on turf. Another late rising star?

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

LAZMANNICK — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:42:26 GMT

Greg J.....the New and Authentic Handicap Legend.......

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

footlick — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:39:23 GMT

Gun Bow- Loup Breton has the look of a Euro who hasn't really acclimated here. He still has the capability to run a top race, but he just doesn't run to his Euro level.

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Jason Shandler — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:35:44 GMT

Yes, new blog Thursday or Friday. Sorry, been very busy last two weeks

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Kit J — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:23:33 GMT

Nice articles on Saratoga, will there be a blog?

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Zookeeper — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:17:36 GMT

Greg J,

You commented earlier about Lava Girl racing today at Del Mar. Did you see the race? She won in a dead-heat with Go On Babe, a Baffert trained filly. She went off at 30-1. Wish I had bet a few dollars on her! Did you?

re: Is Gio Ponti Still at the Top of His Class?

Dr Drunkinbum — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:06:05 GMT

Twirling Candy looks like a monster. 7-21, Del Mar 8th. In the 7th O'Neill might have another Lava star in Lave Girl. She ran like a pro in her debut, and looks like a champion.