Easing back into regular blogging....Not only did the recently deceased Dynaformer have three graded stakes winners on Saturday, but they came at the rare American distances of 12 furlongs (Ioya Bigtime in the Stars and Stripes) and 11 furlongs (Point of Entry in the Man o'War; Starformer in the Robert G. Dick). All of these races were on the turf. Stallion owners would probably prefer their stallions to be known for some other specialty, but all graded stakes wins where the winners emerge healthy are unambiguously good. It's the same when you win a race as an owner; the habit of maintaining objectivity can become so ingrained that it's hard to observe a moratorium on the straight analysis until the next morning.
As far as turf routers go, these Dynaformer graded stakes winner are young (Point of Entry and Starformer are 4; Ioya Bigtime 5), so it's worth asking how they will do going forward. Point of Entry is now a star, but I like the other Phipps' turfer, Boisterous, slightly better. Prime contenders Newsdad and Treasure Beach didn't contend in the Man o' War, leaving Point of Entry with less daunting horses to beat, and the pace was so slow early, the final 3/8ths were run in 33.85. Point of Entry was in position to take advantage of the slow pace. Yes, the Phipps had Point of Entry in the $600,000 race on Saturday, and Boisterous in the $200,000 Arlington Handicap, where he was 2nd, but stables have been wrong about horses before. I think they are both good horses, and they are close enough that I would expect them to reverse decisions if they faced each other much. Boisterous's banishment to Arlington might not have been such a negatove statement, either, not with the Arlington Million upcoming.
Starformer I really like. This was her first stakes win, but she'd never run a bad race in America on turf before, and she was classy in France, too. Since her other try going really long produced a three-length win in a Gulfstream allowance, it's possible the 10-furlong+ races are the only places she can be truly outstanding. (She is a Dynaformer, after all; wasn't their distance proclivity the original point of this post?) If she needs more than 10 furlongs, I don't know how many opportunities she's going to get at that in stakes competition as a filly. She might have to take on the boys.
The Ioyas just cannot be denied, so it was in a way not that surprising to see Bigtime step up, even while he paid $84,00. His time came out to be very fast in my judgment, too, although I won't state that with confidence, since I don't follow Arlington that much, or see that many 12 furlong races. Watching his race, I have to say that he still looked more like an $84.00 horse to me than a horse who is going to have this kind of success again.
It's interesting that after so many years of Dyaformer as a sire, his ability can demonstrate itself so unmistakably that I feel like I never properly appreciated it before.
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