I can\'t imagine someone not believing that as of right now, Brother Derek IS certainly at the head of his class. He is the deserving Derby favorite, likely to go off around 4-1 or 9-2 by post time -- that\'s not bad odds if you love him. You\'ll never get 9-2 on him again!
As far as short fields, everyone out west was afraid of him.
He\'s a classy, smooth-moving animal. The distance won\'t beat him, but the pace very likely will. That they\'re trying to get him to relax is interesting. In a way, they are taking his best weapon out of his arsenal -- he\'s an intimidator. He needs to be in front. He\'s not stalking anyone. When he gets in front, other horses are scared to pass him; there are very few like that, but he\'s one of them. That they want to try and slow him down is as stupid as it gets.
He has been at his peak since early in the winter; he\'s sure not going any faster, I can tell you all that. The race when he beat Stevie Wonder Boy was a very fast race, one he will never likely exceed. He\'s pretty much got to run back to that level and hold that for a mile and a quarter against several others who are probably as good as Stevie Wonder Boy -- that\'s no easy task.
From a betting standpoint, there is just too much other value in the race to take the favorite. If he wins, he\'ll have earned it, even if all the other speeds decide to rate, and I don\'t see that happening. In fact, I don\'t think he can possibly hold up to a super fast pace over a mile and a quarter - say 22 and change 45 and change 110 and change. I believe he will be inhaled late by the stamina types. I can\'t blame anyone who bets on this horse or likes him, he\'s hard not to like. He\'s as classy as they come.
