Breeze

Likely GI Kentucky Derby favorite Tiz the Law (Constitution) topped a list of sophomores putting in their final breezes ahead of the Run for the Roses/Lilies Saturday, covering five panels in :59.21 (1/3) on the Saratoga main track. The native New Yorker was one of the first on the track at 5:45 a.m. in an attempt to beat the incoming rainstorm. With regular breeze rider Heather Smullen in the irons, the flashy bay covered his first three furlongs in :36.01 and galloped out in 1:12.01. "Everything went fine. He came...

Like many issues in racing, the inaccuracy of published workout times is something we who are firmly planted in the industry have all just accepted as the way it is. Quote a breeze time to any trainer, owner or serious horseplayer and they'll tell you why it's pointless. "Official" times of works, and rankings, bullets, etc. are almost never correct, and somehow we've all just gone along with it. I'm sure I'm not the only one who has analyzed workout video of a horse like it was the Zapruder film...