Mike Smith to ride Chocolate Candy

[smalltimer]

Mike Smith named to ride Chocolate Candy in the Derby.

[SoCalMan2]

smalltimer Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Mike Smith named to ride Chocolate Candy in the
> Derby.


That is terrible news.  I really liked this horse and was hoping that he could work out a decent trip.  Smith guarantees that this horse will lose all chance because of the super wide swooping move.  Oy.

[big18741]

Denis of Cork 1w1w from the 16 hole.
Street Sense 1w1w

Beethoven is out.Mcpeak ruined TGjojo.Borel needs a Derby mount.

[miff]

Lots of ink for the one paced,wide running CC who has really never ran a race as fast as POTN.He beat CC while kinda rank and running out of his preferred style.

POTN has much more quickness/explosiveness than CC.Only big question with POTN is if he will handle the dirt at all.Don\'t think he\'ll pull in the derby, he\'s done that in his last two because he was very sharp and the paces were very slow.

His slow figs will make him a big price and if he works well at CD, he\'s not a toss imo.Hard to ignore Mr.Mott\'s comments though about this horse being more turf/synth.


Mike

[jimbo66]

You are going to get slapped by P-Dub on these anti-Mike Smith comments.

I have to agree though.  He rides like a \"family man\", as they say....

[Michael D.]

miff Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lots of ink for the one paced,wide running CC who
> has really never ran a race as fast as POTN.He
> beat CC while kinda rank and running out of his
> preferred style.
>
> POTN has much more quickness/explosiveness than
> CC.Only big question with POTN is if he will
> handle the dirt at all.Don\'t think he\'ll pull in
> the derby, he\'s done that in his last two because
> he was very sharp and the paces were very slow.
>
> His slow figs will make him a big price and if he
> works well at CD, he\'s not a toss imo.Hard to
> ignore Mr.Mott\'s comments though about this horse
> being more turf/synth.
>
>
> Mike


Mike,

Last year\'s SA Derby winner had one of the most impressive Derby works in recent memory, and wound up eating a lot of bad money.

I\'ll have to re-examine the colt though, because this looks like the anti-wiseguy horse so far, and the odds are likely to drift up. It\'s one thing tossing him at 6-1, another at 10-1 or higher.

[Silver Charm]

Michael everything we say now is wait-and-see.

But if this horse gets there early and begins training over the CD strip, knowing the Trainer, there will be quick works and not much else for the general media and watching public to talk about.

Post Edited

Indian Express trained by Baffert in 2003 went off at $10.80 on the dollar and did not have a quarter of the resume this horse has. Countering that at the time Baffert had just won 3 Derbies in the previous say six years so people were a little leary about leaving him out.

If Baffert stays west and trains over the synthetic, ships in at the last minute, remains quiet (not that I am encouraging that), loses Gomez, then you might see 12-1.

Maybe......

[miff]

Mike D,

Agree and I would think that Gomez off POTN(probably)will add a point or two.Baffy will wing this one for sure in the coming weeks and it will be interesting to see how he moves over the dirt surface.

The other issue for synth runners is the very different kick back that they will experience for the first time.Some horses do not run through kickback very well the first time or two.

Most interesting derby in a while with the top three(IWR,QR,DUNKIRK) all coming in looking somewhat bouncy imo.

Good luck

Mike

[Ill-bred]

A recent trip to SoCal convinced me, beyond all doubt, that Mike Smith is a terribly overrated rider. He regularly requires his mount to spot the field 4-6 lengths in ground loss. He doesn\'t ride to win, that\'s for sure.

[P-Dub]

jimbo66 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> You are going to get slapped by P-Dub on these
> anti-Mike Smith comments.
>
> I have to agree though.  He rides like a \"family
> man\", as they say....


NAh, although it only took 1 post to get to the \" Wide Smith\" responses. You guys probably complain Prince Fielder strikes out too much.

We\'ve gone over this before, no need to defend a HOF rider with the second most BC wins in history because a few people still want to jump on this whole wide thing. Its actually amusing.

[Silver Charm]

But you will agree his, \"Go to Central Avenue and then turn 180 degrees left\" trip on Praire Bayou did cost the horse that particular Derby?

[magicnight]

Silver, when I leave my house I find that \"180 degrees left\" turns are - in fact - the fastest way home.

[EJXD2]

He\'s not a rider that I won\'t use on a marginal contender, but he\'s definitely not a rider in which I upgrade a horse\'s chances just because he\'s in the bike.

April has convinced me that Julian Leparoux and Rafael Bejarano are the future.

[P-Dub]

Maybe.

It just never ends.

[Rick B.]

\"GIACOMO, in a bit tight between horses at the start, was unhurried while five wide between rivals during the early stages, continued five wide along the backstretch, worked his way forward between horses six wide on the far turn, was in behind a wall of horses entering the upper stretch, was alertly angled eight abreast to secure racing room at the furlong grounds, then closed determinedly under extreme left-handed urging to prevail in the final seventy yards.\"