Racing is a world of relativity, but a 41-length drubbing conveys a bad performance, regardless of the competition. If we made a list of horses that lost this decisively, some would be horses who had something go wrong on that particular day and were eased, but my guess is that most would be essentially non-competitive horses, who probably would never win again. They would be horses that perhaps owed their haplessness to specific explanation, such as a severe bleeding problem, but would come across to us, the detached fans, as simply not being able to run at all.
This is not the case with Sky Blue Pink, the horse whose connections had to endure the 41-length failure at Aqueduct today. Sky Blue Pink has been in the money eight times in 13 races, but even that doesn't convey how honest he's been. He had certainly never lost by 41 lengths before, only losing by more than 5 lengths twice. And when he did, it apparently wasn't because he ran poorly, but because he was in a little too tough, or had a "horrible trip" (so says the commenet line in one of the worst losses). He had run six straight Beyers between 80 and 85, and four before that between 74 and 80. No, Sky Blue Pink's miserable showing today appears to have resulted from leaving the safety of the turf course for the first time and venturing to the main track.
There were a couple of mildly interesting aspects to this. Number one, Sky Blue Pink changed barns from Christophe Clement to someone named Brad Baker, who was saddling only his 21st starter on the year. Sky Blue Pink was claimed on October 16 and was 2nd five weeks later for Baker, improving from 9th place in the penultimate call.
Even with turf racing ending for the near future in New York, and Baker's having an incentive to keep Sky Blue Pink in New York as a New York-bred, one has to wonder if Clement would have taken the same step with the horse. Being able to compete on dirt certainly increases options, and when a horse proves he can do it with another trainer, the first trainer can be said to have gotten one wrong. Given today's performance, in the case of Clement and Sky Blue Pink, this does not appear to have been the case.
The second interesting angle is that Sky Blue Pink's pedigree looks strongly turf: Sky Classic out of a Grand Lodge mare. I believe Sky Classic was turf champion, and if he wasn't, he was a heck of a lot closer to turf champion than dirt champion. Grand Lodge was a group I winner in Europe, and 10th when tried on the dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic.
Contrast this pedigree with Midnite Silver's, who also made his dirt debut far into his career on November 25 at Aqueduct, but ran by the competition in the stretch like they were stationary to score a 2 1/2 length victory. Midnite Silver is by Silver Deputy out of a Fast Play mare, names that do not get my blood pumping for the turf. You'd assume there was a good reason the horse had never been tried on dirt before, and even after the win, I'd still assume that. Maybe he has conformation or action that could compromise his soundness if he competed extensively on dirt. But with that sire/broodmare sire cross, Midnite Silver was at least worth a look on dirt.
He also had not been with the trainer who put him on dirt for very long (David Jacobson). While Baker ran Sky Blue Pink on dirt by design, what Jacobson deserves credit for is simply not scratching Midnite Silver, as his race came off the turf. Funny that the trainer backed into running was the one who won.
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