It looked to me like English Channel matched strides with Shakespeare from the turn to the wire,and I'm not really a huge English Channel fan.Maybe Shakespeare needs less ground to show his best stuff.
Keep in mind that Skaespeare had every reason to bounce running 20 days before in course record time, picking up 12lbs. off his last race and running a wide 3f farther than he's ever been. English Channel had already been 10f twice and was dropping 5 lbs with seven weeks off in between. This could be another Tikkanen/Vaudeville scenario where the former was all out to beat the latter in the 1994 Turf Classic then the former won the BC Turf and Vaudeville faded to an also ran. Do not take Shakespeare lightly. Ace, who ran 3rd in the Turf Classic, finished 3rd to Bago earlier this year in a Group I so the race hace some merit.
I learned the most important thing you can learn about a horse this weekend. That's the fact that Shakespeare will look another horse in the eye. Some of them are brave when they can make that one big run and win by 3 or 4 going away. Some though when looked in the eyeball back down and don't dig deep. Shakespeare had a horrendous trip, spotted weight to a younger and improving rival, lost ground to him on the turn for home, but looked him in the eye and still won. Whoever comes over from Europe will be tough, but Shakespeare is a damn good horse.
