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I must admit,  a week ago I didn’t think there was really that much of a chance of George going for the Classic.  As you first pointed out last week Roland, you can see why Coolmore is tempted to go for the Classic rather than the mile. Like Aidan I would be reluctant to part with my money betting on George winning (kickback, traffic, 10f trip etc.) but neither would I want to bet against him.  For sure, memories of Hawk Wing and Galileo don’t help to ressaure me.  On the other hand it could be a hell of a race and, lets face it, if George were to win with Barnardini coming second – that  would catapult George to real superstar status, probabably convincing even the most seroius doubters. If he goes for the Classic I can only interpret this as a vote of confidence in George from AOB et al, and not a lack of confidence in him for the mile as Sal has suggested.
I’m not sure there’s been enough Danehilll’s tried on dirt to know if they go or not
<br>Gareth/EW, I didn’t see the race but George’s pal Ivan Denisovich (Danehill- Hollywood Wildcat) didn’t perform too well in last years BC Juvenile at Belmont. According to the Racing Post he was  "always behind, beaten at halfway".  There was a better showing when second in the Grade I Secretariat Stakes (on dirt I think) at Arlington last August. although that earned him a RP rating of just 112.
A decent run in the classic however would be a major plus for his stud career
<br>Roland , that a very interesting point you raise about there being little downside to going for the Classic rather than the mile. I am a big fan of GW but personally I would think there are too many question marks there for them to take the chance on running him in the Classic.  I think that Bernardini is exceptional and very possibly Discreet Cat is very good also.  George would need to have everything going his way to win against those and I can’t see them risking it instead of going for much easier pickings in the mile. Half of me hope I’m wrong though! ÂÂÂ
(Edited by apalachee at 3:35 pm on Oct. 9, 2006)
The Racing Post reports that AOB has not ruled out a tilt at the Breeder’s Cup Classic for George Washington.  What do you think?  Should Coolmore consider putting him up against Barnardini et al on dirt for the first time?  Surely a big ask for a horse like GW.
FiveLive says Heffernan cleared of riding team tactics<br>Without having heard the procedings one take on this as follows:-<br> Frankie goes into the race expecting team tactics from Team Ballydoyle<br>Finds himself wide outside Ivan D. with 3f to race and ID not giving any quarter – tough on Libretist but nothing worthy of action from Frankie.<br>a weakening ID gets bumped by Arafa and pushed out into Frankie’s mount.  Frankie is expecting team tactics and assumes Heffernan guilty.  Lodges complaint then cant back down when he sees rerun. – <br>Or would he have seen the rerun before lodging complaint?
the RP article goes on to quote Frankie saying that ….. in my heart of hearts I had a feeling something like that was going to happen.  <br>
Racing Post says …..appeal goes into the night. <br>Quote from RP website update just now<br>O’Brien said: "I couldn’t believe what Frankie did.He was either paranoid about Ballydoyle horses or realised he had given the horse a bad ride and needed someone to blame.â€ÂÂ
Interesting point on Coolmore fillies HappyJ.  Racking my brain to remember fillies tested against colts . Going back to 1998 Shahtoush finished tailed off in the Irish Champion  Sunspangled last of 7 in same race the following year. Don’t think Imagine or Yesterday ran in other than fillies races –  not that many top class fillies out of Ballydoyle recently relative to the colts. ÂÂÂ
Well NickC -iIsn’t that quite something from Mr Mordin?
NM Post- 2000 Guineas analysis<br>“My speed ratings indicate that George Washington beat a bunch of rivals here that were either unfit, slow or non-stayers. I say forget the hype. This is a slow horse that should be opposed relentlessly from now onâ€ÂÂ
Thanks Cormack.  Good to be here on the web’s BEST SITE!  Aragorn, mitigating circumstances for Alex at York? Fallon blamed the bump early on so I am inclined to ignore that race. I agree its difficult to rate just how good she is versus the colts but her last 3 performances were all impressive and obviously trainer and jockey rate her v. highly. The video evidence alone has convinced me DI is The One. My vote 1. Deep Impact 2. HR  3. Rail Link (Alex top 3 if she runs)!
Anyone think there is a realistic chance of Alexandrova going for the Arc rather than the Opera?  I rate her the most likely to give Deep Impact a race if the pace is modest.  The small field has diminished my concerns about DI’s jockey messing up. This looks like it could be one of the best races we have seen for many years.  Shame we won’t see Dylan T and Sir Percy in there too.
