Air Force Blue - The resurrection

Like many USA horses he was an early maturing type.  He was much bigger that other 2yos.  They caught up.

wouldnt win a 4 furlong race. he will be retired in next few weeks.

Stravinsky & Mozart - same senario, same race, both won impressively.

TBF Stravinsky showed a bit more dash in the Jersey than AFB has in two dismal runs this season. Good luck if you back him.

Conspiracy, maybe not...a mockery of his trainer, yes!

Ran a nice race not getting a clear run and may be finding his form again. I'd like to see him back over a mile on fast ground.

I don't think he's a sprinter and will be better over a mile. As long as there is nothing physically wrong with him there is no reason why he can't find his 2yo form again. This was a step in the right direction.

horse got no run........he travelled very well........nunthorpe should be next

5 day entry in Lennox Stakes at Glorious Goodwood next Tuesday

Sorry, it's 10/1 now. But I shall wait for race day just in case, and if connections do a Highland Reel ie back him as if defeat is out of the question, I shall go with the flow.

Lumiere is going to France a week on sunday, according to trainer today.

Air Force Blue and Lumiere are non-runners in the Lennox.

I'd say the horse is doing practically no training - and his respectable run in the July Cup was probably just off his natural ability (which we know is outstanding).

The Irish Guineas is a race that has no significance whatsoever as it was just a shot-in-the-dark on terrible ground, but just to give them another look.

The real race is obv the Eng 2000, and the vibes were he could be 'over-cooked' - well that was certainly true, and the combo of not coming on physically combined with a very attrtitional 2yo campaign meant he was a horse in need of rest + recuperation instead of the hard training he had to undergo to be competitive in the Eng 2k , so ... I very much like him to come back.

How he develops again physically is going to be v important but he seems to be freshened up at least and I'd say whatever he's aimed at (as long as it's not more Group 1 5/6f races) he'll be v competitive.

well ... with TG proving himself in the Sussex, slim chances we'll see AFB 'The Ressurection' at 1m, guess he'll be kept to 6f now.

Might be one for next year

question is guys...........did he beat anything at two?

The ground is good to firm, price is 7/4 and a 'proper' jockey to boot as well, one last chance perhaps. Surely, even connections would be tempted to 'get' their money back on this 'donkey' tomorrow? If disappoints again, curtains for sure, and retirement beckons, I'd reckon.

AFB is treading a similar path to Coolmore's One Cool Cat. They aimed OCC at this same target in the hope of getting his career back on track, he won quite nicely but it proved a false dawn as he was beaten when well fancied on his next two starts. Some people saw AFB's last run as more encouraging as he travelled okay but couldn't get a run and could've done better, but it's just as possible if he had got in the clear he'd have gone out like a light as in his previous runs this year.

For AFB's form to deteriorate so severely in such a short space of time there must be a physical problem that has gone undetected. It probably only affects the horse when under pressure and with today's weak opposition he might just have enough natural speed to see them off without much pressure but the price looks no value. Even if he does win comfortably I think he'll still go the same way as OCC.

Refer to earlier post chaps..Serious breathing problem,NOT divulged by THE LADS for obvious reasons.NO avalanche of money today youll have noticed!!
CROOKS.......

Outstanding juvenile Air Force Blue retired

RP By Mark Scully 4:03PM 28 SEP 2016

AIR FORCE BLUE has been retired from racing after a three-year-old campaign that failed to live up to the spectacular promise of his juvenile season. The son of War Front was sent off the 4-5 favourite for April's Qipco 2,000 Guineas after losing only once in five starts as a two-year-old, his victories including three Group 1s; the Phoenix Stakes, National Stakes and Dewhurst Stakes.

Those performances led trainer Aidan O'Brien to wax lyrical about Air Force Blue, saying after his season-concluding Newmarket romp: "He is something that we haven't had before. "I'd say there's no doubt he's the best two-year-old we've had. The size of him, the scope, the way he travels, and when you let him go he delivers."

After beating only one home in the 2,000 Guineas and the Irish equivalent, he was then given the chance to return to form over shorter trips but finished 12th in the July Cup and last of seven in the Phoenix Sprint Stakes, both over six furlongs.

Air Force Blue will stand at Coolmore America's Ashford Stud, whose manager Dermot Ryan said: "With the exception of Frankel, who has made such a brilliant start to his stud career, Air Force Blue is Timeform's highest-rated juvenile in nearly 20 years. In fact, he's the highest-rated juvenile ever from the Danzig line. "He proved himself to be a brilliant two-year-old... and we're absolutely thrilled War Front's best two-year-old son is coming to Ashford."

Not a single placed horse in any of his Group 1 wins has won a Group race since, in fact almost all have never won a race at all.