Just the start of the official team turf thread. here are the pre entries

TURF

HORSE OWNER TRAINER
*BALTO STAR Anstu Stables Todd Pletcher
BETTER TALK NOW Bushwood Stables Graham Motion
KITTEN'S JOY Ken & Sarah Ramsey Dale Romans
MAGISTRETTI Michael Tabor Patrick Biancone
MUSTANFAR Shadwell Stable Kiaran McLaughlin
POWERSCOURT (GB) Mrs. John Magnier Aidan O'Brien
REQUEST FOR PAROLE Jeri & Sam Knighton Stanley Hough
SARAFAN Gary Tanaka Neil Drysdale
STAR OVER THE BAY G Racing, Vanburger & Vaughn Mike Mitchell
STRUT THE STAGE Sam-Son Farm Mark Frostad
*OUIJA BOARD (GB) Lord Derby Ed Dunlop

*BALTO STAR has second preference in Mile
*OUIJA BOARD has second preference in Filly & Mare Turf

Played Powerscourt in the million and I'm prepared to put him right back in.

Can't argue with that pick. Do they plan to have young Jamie Spencer on board again?

Also like the consistency of Magistretti but I have yet to look at the past perfs yet

I need to see PPs, who's in, who's out. They all look good on BC day. That's usually my problem - I can make a case for just about all of them.

Call it bold or stupid or both, but as good as he's run thus far, Kitten's Joy is due for a letdown. Why not here? IT has certainly happened to better horses before him so why not leave KJ out of the mix and go for the homerun?? With that in mind,

Powerscourt (proven, has run with the big boys and has back class out the wazoo)

Ouija Board perfect prep in the L'arc de triomphe

Better Talk Now Graham Motion is hot on the turf and this horse ran very well in his last couple

Magistretti has run very consistently this year and has run in all the big dances

All logic says KJ is in the money but I am trying to ignore logic.......

Here are my picks in prefference from top to bottom.

1) Powerscourt. I'm sticking with a horse I've liked for sometime now. I can forgive his loss in The Arlington Million. I can't forget or forgive Spencer's careless handling.

2) Kitten's Joy. The eager youthful strides this guy provides are electrifying. Pretty obvious favorite.

3) Magistretti. Recency. He's gotten pretty good pretty quick. I sure hope he puts in a good try.

4) Star Over The Bay. Pacesetting former claimer should have it all his own way. He tries hard and is one of those runners that I love for his heart and determination. If he can control the tempo I hope he'll last longer than many believe.

PowersCourt is the must use winner

Kittens Joy will be up there in the top 4 for sure so I am ignoring my liberal moron tendencies and must include in my picks.

Strut the STage for a longshot in the money finish as this one has gone to the big dances before and the tgraph guys are high on this one as a live longshot. The word being the last race was a buried effort that was better than it looked.

Star over the bay as the lone speed angle. has run some nice efforts lately. Mike Mitchell for those outside Socal is a very shrewd trainer who just happens to have spent most of his time in the claiming game but he knows what he is doing.

AS an also ran who could get up for 3d or 4th and who would pay very well there is Better Talk NOw as my 5th choice if for some reason one of the above were not able to go on or if we wanted a longer shot.

Well what say you guys? Do we just mail it in on the Kitten and build a big ticket around him?

inquiring minds want to know

Guess I might be double-booked. Here are my thoughts.

Unfortunately I don't see a signer coming out of this race. Rank ordering I'd go for:

Kitten's Joy
Powerscourt
Magistretti
toss up with Better Talk Now and Star Over the Bay


Maybe we should play two combinations at $12 each ? Then again, it pays not to be too sure on BC day.

Then again, never mind. I forgot that the format was a 4-horse box.

I think Kitten's Joy is also very tough in here. Star Over The Bay is going to take these a long way at a slow clip. Request For Parole can clunk up with Day and as long as Powerscourt can handle 2 trips to the US in the same year, he'll be a contender as well. I didn't like the fact that Magistretti couldn't stay with Kitten's Joy when KJ made his run and I'd be willing to drop him off a ticket at his expected short odds.

Well at least we seem to be pretty solid in agreement on

Kittens Joy
Powerscourt
Star over the bay


the 4th spot can be filled with Magistretti, Request for Parole, Better Talk Now or Strut the STage (the latter whom I floated for value but am not overly supportive of). If one of you has really strong feelings about one or another make the case. I too am slightly bummed by Magistretti's last one as it appeared as if he had everything his way with a very slow pace and KJ ran right by him.

Your call Dam. You're the captain for a reason. Go with the remaining horse you liked first. Your first thought is your best thought. These pp's are out too long and one's perspective becomes fuzzy from going over it too many times, imo.

For better or for worse here is our final ticket


Kittens Joy
Powerscourt
Star over the bay
Request for Parole

like the prospect for long odds, plus the PAT DAY effect he's #2 on the all time winning bcup jock list and is as likely as anyone to guide a very consistent Request for Parole in to the money to extend the payouts Good luck team!