Not much of an update in this week’s three year old rankings. In the Smarty Jones Caddo River did his job.  Will be interesting to see where he turns up next,  and how Brad Cox spaces his races and keeps him and Essential Quality apart. Cox has a loaded hand, and yet another contender/pretender in Mandaloun.

A couple of good preps this Saturday with the Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park and the Lewis at Santa Anita  – those two races 

The Pegasus ran to its form on paper. I couldn’t get excited about Knicks Go at the short price, but he appeared to duplicate his past couple of efforts.  The word is out on the Cox barn.  He certainly appears to be able to “get one ready” for a big race day, and brings the money with them like Baffert a few years ago.  Bears watching the board.  Mandaloun did not appear as ready in the Lecomte, so you may be able to move Cox horses up at Oaklawn and Gulfstream, and I’ll keep an eye on the Louisiana string’s performance over the next few weeks.

 in the Pegasus turf Colonel Liam took the positive step forward that we suggested he needed, and will include himself in on the top horses in the division. He picked up about five points on the Beyer speed scale in running a 99. He will ultimately have to be even a bit faster to have a huge impact with the top tier of the division but he is one of the ones. Showed a great late turn of foot when finally getting out to win late.

Keep an eye on Silver State in the handicap division. He took down the Fifth Season at Oaklawn and appears to be on the upswing.

Early Super Bowl thought – leaning to Tampa plus the points – the Chiefs losing LT Eric Fischer, one of the best in the game, to an Achilles injury in the AFC championship is a sneaky bad omen.   O-lines are important and the Chiefs have lost both tackles in the past few weeks.    Tampa is going to dial up the pass rush and give their corners a chance to cover early.