Battlestar is a gifted horse. In winning his last two races, the Dubai World Cup and the Massachusetts Handicap, he has made a splash and become noticed by the PF community.
He has a nice combination of speed and stamina, and augmented by his high kick rating, this creates a very formidable opponent at 9 to 12 furlongs. However, he is not without chinks in his armor.
He is extremely picky on running surfaces, disliking both hard dirt and hard turf. This has caused many scratches, as evidenced by having only 14 career starts, even though he is in the middle of his 4yo season.
Also, he has his sire's maddening disdain for the competition. Nightwing was a physically imposing racer who usually towered over his fellow racers. He had a natural superiority complex and would simply not work at the end of a race, trusting in his raw ability to carry the day. Unfortunately, this led to 13 second place finishes, with many of them being of the "nipped at the wire" variety.
Battlestar has shown the same tendency. His last two wins were by half a length and a nose, and both were touch-and-go right to the end. During a 6-race stretch as a 3yo, he finished 2nd five times!
He has generally completed his races with a surplus of stamina, proving that he could have expended a little more effort to secure the victory. Unfortunately, like his sire, he doesn't think he should have to exert himself to beat the likes of his inferior competition. Hopefully that arrogance will not cost him (and me) in his next big race.
I'm not too worried though. Battlestar is better than you.
