Jack,
With all due respect, that stat is pretty meaningless in absolute terms. You could put a 5k claimer from Philly Park in the Derby with a 45% chance of running a new top, but you still can\'t bet the horse to win.
Mine that Bird was the 18th fastest horse coming into the Derby. The \"positive pattern\" comment in the seminar was an offhand remark, immediately followed by \"but he would need an incredible jump just to get in the number\".
18th fastest out of 19, nowhere near fast enough to win, prepping in New Mexico, trained by a guy with a couple wins in the last year. 50-1 is nowhere near enough.
The tougher question now is what to do with this horse in 2 weeks. Now that he has run the \"0\" or thereabouts, he could pair it up. 3 year olds improve in leaps. As the favorite in the Preakness, he would be a \"bounce\" bet against. However, I think he still could be 10-1 in the Preakness, as many will consider him a fluke. We still have to see who signs up to run in the Preakness, but at double digit odds, he still could be interesting.
Would love to bet a fixed price at today\'s odds in the NY post. They have Mr. Fantasy at 8-1. Assuming he got a decent figure in his last, he may be the most likely winner, if he runs.