In the first couple of years of synthetic tracks, I recall a phenomenon a lot of people called first dirt. When a horse had been running its whole career on synthetic and was getting dirt for the first time, the horse would typically make an oversize jump up. A lot of times, that jump up would be so big it would be a knock out number. I have now forgotten how to read for that.

So, without knowing what Cross the Line's sheet looks like, does anybody know if he is a candidate to explode first dirt? What were the nuances that were used to look for a first dirt explosion? I have just completely forgotten this sheet reading nuance, but it looks like it could be relevant for the Santa Anita Derby.

Thanks in advance for any thoughts on this.......