An extremely slow night at work, allowing time for post Derby musings.
First, a good job by those on the board who did not try to reinvent the wheel
and went with the fastest horse in the Derby. \"The race is not always to the
swift, nor the battle to the strong, but that\'s the way to bet\" Extra points to
those who can identify the biblical passage just quoted and the famous race
writer who embellished it.
As I watched the Derby replayed numerous times, I was amazed at the ease with
which Calvin Borel was able to advance along the rail, while at the same time
thinking about how many times riders seem to get stopped cold in 5 and 6 horse
fields.
Is Street Sense a strong Triple Crown candidate? I think Racing could really
use a Triple Crown winner, and New York Racing in particular really needs a
Belmont Stakes where there is a Triple Crown at stake. Nafzger comes off as a
conservative trainer who under different circumstances might not campaign his
horse in the strenous TC grind, but even Nafzger must be aware what a Triple
Crown Winner would mean to Racing at this point. The biggest knock on SS\'s
chances in the Preakness is that the race is not run at Churchill Downs.
I got tired of watching the constant replay of Nafzger and Mrs. Genter (kind of
reminded me of Zero Mostel in the original \"Producers\" movie) but Nafzger is
a \"hay oats and water\" kind of guy who used to test his own employees for drugs
long before the various tracks ever thought of doing it. I think he began
planning this colt\'s 3YO campaign a few minutes after last years BC Juvie and
the enigmatic Blue Grass Stakes was a masterful job of training, where SS was
probably only 85-90% cranked (and almost won the BG anyway) and had
quite a bit left in his Derby tank.
Pletcher? I will reserve judgment on whether TAP\'s Derby futility is medication
related. It is possible he will join the ranks of some great trainers through
history-- Mott, Frankel, Whittingham, McGaughey and Jerkens come to mind-- who
have not had success in the Derby proportional (proportionate?) to their
overall accomplishments. Most surprising to me was that Any Given
Saturday (barely beaten by SS at Tampa), Circular Quay (Louisiana Derby winner
and 2 time winner at CD) and Scat Daddy (Florida Derby winner) could all have
their Derby performances described with 2 words seen frequently in DRF charts
and PPs: NO FACTOR.
Personal Wagering Notes: Caught the Pick 3 which ended with the Derby, keying
Street Sense. My strategy in the first 2 legs was to toss short price layoff
runners Pussycat Doll in the Humana Distaff and Better Talk Now in the
Woodford. Mission accomplished, but I thought that given the size of the fields
(10, 10 and 20) the gimmick should have paid more than $927.60. No complaints as
this was my only bet of the day (5x5x1 for $1 twice).
Tough beat for those on the board who liked Brilliant in the Woodford. The
chart on the winner was as follows: \"Sky Conqueror went to his knees at the
start, settled in hand five wide, edged in a bit on the backstretch, came out
nine wide leaving the second turn to secure room, drifted out for a stride
about the sixteenth pole, was straightened soon after and came over in front of
Better Talk Now forcing him to steady for a stride, leaned in further bumping
with Danzon, then closed determinedly to wear down Brilliant\". If I had needed
Brilliant to win I might be wondering how there was no claim of foul or look by
the Stewards in that race.
Fun fact from the Woodford: Better Talk Now only beat his rabbit, Shake The
Bank, by 3/4 length. Maybe STB\'s owners can take a look at what Icy Atlantic was
able to accomplish in his California races when relieved of his rabbit duties
for English Channel.
