A mile and a half is a funny distance and most horses don't want to go that far. Most hit the wall as Smarty Jones did. Birdstone didn't. But he did benefit from a pressured pace scenario that he wasn't a part of. All of those who were, except for Smarty, collasped. Commedable won this race with a vaguely similar pattern coming in, as I recall. He showed some ability earlier in the spring but nothing really to suggest he would win. He just set his own pace and never backed up. Birdstone showed ability at 2 and his two races prior to this one had troubled lines. He's not a bad horse. I just think there were better horses in this race that finished behind him on Saturday, namely Rock Hard Ten, Eddington and Smarty Jones. The first two would have had a better chance for 2nd and 3rd with different rides. I mean, is Royal Assault a better horse than RHT and Eddington? I don't think so. They were just used too hard too early.



JR