McCraken

[pizzalove]

Frank,

I know you are right that most people liked the work.  I would of liked to have seem him eager and moving up steadily but I didn\'t.  I wanted to root for him.  My friend really liked him. (I think he saw him win at Churchill and has been talking derby ever since}. IMHO I just didn\'t like what I saw.  Also felt that if this weren\'t the derby both MCcraken and LOL would not run.  They both have the look of a guy that just badly lost a bar fight.

Have you seen anything else you really liked?

[bellsbendboy]

Pizza, you must have the wrong work, \"crack\" worked beautifully.  True he took a handful of strides to come back to the boy and his head was slightly cocked down the lane but that\'s nitpicking.  He is going out faster than most can run.  Sitting on a huge effort for sure.   bbb

[FrankD.]

Pizza,

I\'ve said it a few times to me they all are underneath horses this year. I\'m not thinking key on anyone for the top 2 spots.

Of CE, AD, IWC, MC & PJ the probable top 5 betting choices the only one I\'m even considering is McCracken. I\'ll not be making any major plunges, if it wasn\'t the Derby it would be passed here.

Good luck,

Frank D.

[Tale Of Ekati]

If Practical Joke adds blinkers for the big race, would you still feel he\'s the most likely winner?

[dskidmore1]

Classic Empire\'s aura is that Breeders Cup race.  Has not come close to duplicating it.  The Arkansas Derby was nice but it was not in the Breeders cup league.  Add his quirkiness and you have a very chancy type.  Always Dreaming can one say bounce;  Massive move forward; the prototype T. Plethcher 3 year old.  IWC gets more love.  Good race, bad race, good race line.  Not sure what excuse for bad race; but like the good races.

[fasteddie]

IF he draws the auxiliary gate, he is a STONE-COLD mortal lock! Empty the kid\'s college fund, the retirement, and take out a 2nd mortgage.

IF he draws any post inside of the 12 hole, he will have to work too much.

I haven\'t felt so strongly about a horse since Monarchos, and he was a mortal lock; I couldn\'t empty my wallet fast enough!

[ajkreider]

Walk me through this one. The one race he didn\'t win, he was up near the pace.  Taking back a bit means he\'s probably going to be wide and wide.  What number do you see him running? Do you think a zero wins this? - cuz that mean a whole bunch of horses won\'t move forward or get back to their tops.

[fasteddie]

A Zero does win this, and a LOT of horses won\'t go forward enough, or will be compromised by the trip.

Academic, until we see the draw; personally, I hate these 20 horse fields, and I wish they would limit it to one gate (14 horses)

Too many bad horses ruin it for legit contenders!

[mjellish]

Don\'t understand this comment at all.  The  money that comes in on those 6 \"extra\" horses who usually should be 100-1 or more but are generally not over 50-1, meaning they have at least twice as much money bet on them as they should, help the odds on the other 14 - a few of whom you like, or at least one, no?

[bellsbendboy]

Please list the bad horses Eddie; no doubt we can convince them to scratch.  bbb

[justwin]

i\'m on the McCracken bandwagon too. The only other horse I am considering is IWC. without that one bad race i\'d be picking IWC. McCracken is at a track he loves, has a pattern that should bring a forward move, has that explosive turn of foot, and setup perfect with the blue grass.  
has many more positive factors and less negatives than the others. Yes, a little slow but Nyquist was too and we don\'t have any consistent fast horses that have thrown back to back fast races (3 or less) in the last 2 preps before the derby that many of the prior derby winners have had. would make a big play if he draws right, IWC draws bad and the price is 8-1 or so. I have to use Practical Joke at 15-1 in the exotics.

George

[fasteddie]

My point is, there are bad runners EVERY year, and YES, it helps the odds having 20, BUT I would rather see the best horses have a legit chance to win.

Look, I handicap the race every year knowing at least one horse will have it\'s career ruined as some idiot owner thinks their sprinter can run 10F, then you never see the horse again.

I am an owner, and have never bought into a colt because the Derby Dream is a lottery ticket that is a BILLION to one you will ever cash. I don\'t want to catch the fever, and ruin a nice colt!

The Derby is our marquee race, and BTW, co-mingled betting pools virtually guarantee you will make $$$ in the exotics, and not having to waste it on 6 extra also-rans would be a plus.

IF you REALLY want to make big $$$ Derby day, how about CD LOWERING the Pick-6 wager to a 1.00 base instead of 2.00; I would dive in big time!

[mjellish]

Boy do we see this differently.  IMO the best horses do have a legit chance to win and their price in every pool is better because of the larger field.

[metroj]

Any concern about the jockey?  Hernandez has had success on the big stage with Wilkes/Fort Larned in the BC but those were not 20 horse fields.  Only 2nd Derby mount IIRC.

[jbrown007]

I continue to see a ton of support for McCracken. Local horse who has worked very well at the track. I watch the works in the morning and the feed is filled with McCracken! Think he will be bet pretty hard. With that being said I beleive tgjb will be keying on him with his thoro form. Of course post will play huge role this year but horse has never moved back. Two solid numbers as a two year old, improved as a 3 year old and paired up. Loves the track and almost assured to move forward but the trip will determine if he wears the roses. Going to need a patient ride by Hernandez and save ground. This horse is capable of doing that but I don\'t know a ton about Hernandez as a jock and if he is willing to wait for a rail or inside opening.