Listen, Karl once again looked "ordinary" (compared to his 2yo year and expectations). People can speak to sound, not sound, bled, lasix, etc. That said, I never thought he was a "great" colt, simply because of----one, what I saw and how he did what he did. Two, I think too many people throw the word "great". Three, the word seems to be grossly overused and it applies to every leading horse of their respective class.
I am not a trainer. I don't who is on this website, but I would venture to say there is not one trainer on this site I would consider to be a better horseman than Jimmy Takter. So, if the horse is not sound, if anyone can get him right, it's Jimmy and not some poster here. I also don't suspect anyone here knows what number he bled, how long it's been going on, etc.
So, never being on the Karl or great train, and this may sound strange coming from me, but, I am not making him a toss for next week. Sure, he got lucky getting in. He would have been second to last or last had HK not broke. However, I think this is a weak crop. I think it's a bit of an inconsistent crop----in that the colts at the top of the class haven't been extremely consistent. Any one of them can break, throw in a clunker, or something of the like. I think Jimmy knows what he's dealing with and has been pointing this colt to the BC since Lexington, since he bled, etc. I think he was not all out, by design, but was used and a bit hard.
I am going to watch a lot of replays. I am going to watch what trainers really know how to peak a colt for a specific race. I will be at training centers this week watching whoever and whatever I can, and get as much information on the colts I can't or don't see (although I won't get any reports from Takter's farm, LOL). I did all of this for the KY Futurity, and just like I did in Lexington, I am going to be prepared, very prepared, so that in case I see something on the track and on the board, I can strike. I saw what I saw for the Futurity, with several minutes to post, and I fired away, and it paid off.....big time, LOL. But, that aside, I am not making Karl an automatic toss. Not by any means.
