I\'m enjoying this thread. Thanks guys!
Regarding Sinster Minester, as visually impressive as the Blue Grass was, I felt that was an exceptionally weak field and going wire to wire at Keeneland as well as a long history I personally have of betting horses who looked super in the Blue Grass and fizzled on Derby Day would lead me to make him (almost) an automatic throw-out, especailly with the amount of other quality speed horses; huge beyers or figs in lone speed races mean very little to me. I am much more in a quandry trying to evaluate Brother Derek\'s SA Derby, that race still has me puzzled.
Regarding Baffert & P-Val he sometimes uses P-Val, but not usually on anything decent; it would seem a no brainer if you have a horse like Minister, why wouldn\'t you want P-val on him? But a lot of trainers out west have a bias against him for his past history -- stupid in my opinion. Victor Espinoza is a horror show on a horse -- he\'s incredible, really -- loves to go as wide as possible for as long as possible on every horse he rides in every race he rides. I wouldn\'t ride him in a mule race -- well, maybe a mule race because they don\'t have turns -- he\'d be fine there. I remember War Emblem, so don\'t get on me there -- another example of a lone speed type -- if no one went with him, he was super -- in any kind of a fight, he disappered. The derby is usually a fight.
