1. Why, if BTH had moved 4.5 pts from his 1st to 2nd race, would that imply that the move was due to conditioning rather than development? More importantly, what difference would it make in terms of future performance?

2. A few mos. ago I had the opportunity to question the top vet on the NY/Fla circuit for 4 hrs re whether certain fig concepts were consistent with his experience. One pt he made was that in stark contrast to humans, that for reasons of physiology once a horse is fit it stays fit with very little work for extended periods, which I think is consistent with your BTH comment. He added that very few trainers understood this, & that the practice of frequent workouts is to a large degree because training "myths" have been & continue to be passed on from generation to generation. Lucky for us that nothing like that applies to handicapping theory!

3. When I arrived at TP yesterday, I was harboring a slim flicker of hope that figs were shipped in for the "big" day, & I was incorrectly told that they were available in what I guess can be described as a Brisnet "vending" machine, something I've never seen or heard of before.

4. Without any figs, the Spiral looked like a race where 3 equal horses had very different odds, but there was one angle I've not seen discussed which might be worth considering re derby preps. I don't know what the exact stats are, but it's worth paying attention to those very infrequent instances in which Eddie D. is convinced to overcome what is reported to be a very strong distate for travel.