Several thrusts at a stake with Indiana-sired fillies

Well, I was preparing a post about the Indiana freshmen sire Article of Faith, who had the winner in the Indiana Stallion 2-year-old filly race at Hoosier on Sunday, and the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th-place finishers in the colt and gelding affair. But once I figured out that the race was restricted to the offspring of Indiana stallions and not merely Indiana-breds, I just wasn't feeling it. I wouldn't want to react to success that is at bottom just a matter of numbers. While just five of the 23 starters in these races were by Articles of Faith, maybe the Articles of Faiths are out of the best mares bred to the Indiana stallions. He also has just three winners from 12 starters, and the Beyers found among these Indiana-stallion stakes 2-year-olds make it clear that Indiana-breds by Indiana stallions is a different world than 'A' track racing. I do like his pedigree; it screams speed, with Storm Cat his sire, and Santa Monica winner Nany's Sweep his dam. I have a weakness for her sire, End Sweep, and admire what he accomplished in so few American crops. Article of Faith was unraced, and shoot me, I find the mystery of what unraced sires might have been intriguing.

I mentioned the lousy Beyers in these Indiana-stallion 2-year-old stakes. Article of Faith's winner, Slacker, should have been by Peaks and Valleys. She got a 51 Beyer when airing by 8 lengths in her debut, then got Beyers of 0 or less in her next starts, as she finished up the track in stakes. Then on Sunday, there was the big rebound, with her odds 7-1 as she was coupled with the runner-up, a one-win-in-one-start filly named Indy Pie.

I suppose extreme fluctuation in performance is somewhat interesting by its lonesome, but what really got my attention here is that the two wins have been on fast tracks, and the two sub-zero Beyers on muddy, sealed tracks. I have found what I consider outstanding evidence that the role wet tracks play in performance is vastly overrated by most handicappers, and should perhaps be ignored entirely as a variable. But if ever a horse argues for the opposite, it's Slacker. While the track surface has been the constant in her vicissitudes, Slacker did add blinkers on Sunday, and pop right out to the lead. This suggests that the blinkers certainly had an effect, and may have helped.

I don't bet often, but at least with my for-entertainment-purposes-only selections, I still might be the only one shouting for Slacker down from the top of the grandstand if she ever faces a wet track again. (In true, I'd probably be the only one in the grandstand, but that's another matter.) On the face of it, a horse that can't handle mud is something to be skeptical about. Two awful races, even when the Beyers are down 50 points, really aren't anything that should turn a hair in racing, and require a special explanation. It's very possible that Slacker experienced physical or mental problems in her bad races that had nothing to do with the track surface.