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Bayern has the reputation as a one-dimensional speedball.  His visual past performances do not tell the whole story:

 

His Woody Stephens indicates 4th at first call no lengths behind:  Bayern was out-sprinted for the lead below is the still shot with Bayern 2nd at the 11 second mark.

Bayern remains in 2nd place or challenging for the lead until the :30 second mark:

With the reputation as a one-dimensional speedball – Bayern required :30 seconds to take the lead.  This is in one of the toughest sprint races annually that attracts a sharp group of horses on the cutback.

In the Haskell this is Bayern after a little over a quarter of a mile.  Getting pressure from a “sharp” Wildcat Red and Social Inclusion who rushed up on the outside.

Compare this to a much softer trip that Moreno got in the Whitney Stakes:

Moreno going the same distance had a clear “gap” to the 2nd place horse Golden Ticket who was not as sharp going into the Whitney as Wildcat Red was going into the Haskell.

Now look at the Preakness – Bayern breaks slow and 17 seconds into the race – he gets sandwiched between 2 horses.  He is never been in a position like this and facing adversity, wide trip and sandwiches between horses encounters about 5 lengths of trouble the first quarter mile of the race.  Rough trip and farther back than an in previous race.  Rosie wrapped up on him going into the stretch.

All front-runners are not created equally – Bayern has shown “heart”.  The first time running even with Embellishing Bob for 33 seconds and drifting out late in the Derby Trial.  Bayern came out of that race and won the Woody Stephens by 7 lengths.  Embellishing Bob ran up track in the Woody Stephens.  Basically “E. Bob” was gutted and Bayern went forward by 10 lengths out of the Derby Trial with a very high track variant.

In the Woody Bayern chased a brilliant speed-ball for the first quarter of a mile, ran even for a few strides then took a sharp jab from Social Inclusion going into the turn and then swatted him away before drawing off in one of the most visually impressive races of the year.

Let’s Examine 1 more running line – the Arkansas Derby.  From the Past Performances above it looks like he was 2nd at the 3rd call and lost by 5 lengths at the wire running 3rd.  Let’s go to the tape:  Again Pace 101 – Pressure is more damaging to a horse than FRACTIONS – Moreno had no pressure – For 15 seconds Bayern was dueling.

Now as for his finish the running line looks like he is a gutless frontrunner who caved at the top of the stretch:  Halfway down the stretch he was clearly 2nd fighting off Tapiture and Conquest Titan shooting the Rail.  The Pride of Ellis nailed him right on the line for 2nd.

Remember this is after missing 10 days of training, skipping his intended spot, shipping to Oaklawn and running in his 3rd lifetime race with only 1 route race and no races as a 2 year old.  What horse wouldn’t have faded a couple of lengths down the stretch.  This was a tough race for two reasons.  Danza “freaked” and Bayern was obviously being “rushed”.

Ten furlongs is the ultimate question for any horse.  But Bayern is a legitimate 8.5 to 9 furlong horse who will make a lot of money and is built like a “power router” like Ack Ack, Lost Code, Silver Charm, Bodemeister.

This is one tough hombre right now – shipping is always tough and this will be his 2nd ship in a month.  I don’t see any East coast horses shipping out West twice in one month!