Miff,
Here\'s something I wrote to some of my friends that as a Dunkirk supporter is my answer to most of your points:
1)Dunkirk-I\'ve said all along the Florida Derby was the definitive prep race and the Derby winner would emerge from there. Dunkirk is the logical horse to win Derby 135. Those skeptics who question his lack of a 2yo race, lack of a stakes win and the jockey choosing Pioneerof the Nile, which will go down as one of the biggest blunders in Derby history, and the trainer\'s 0 for 24 Derby record, are in for an unpleasant surprise on May 2nd. Let\'s start with the lack of a 2yo race. Big Brown won last year\'s Derby in his 4th career start. This is Dunkirk\'s 4th career start. Did it matter that Big Brown had started in a turf race at Saratoga as a 2yo in August , while Dunkirk started as a 3yo in January at Gulfstream-I say no. Look at Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus-his debut was in December. Can anyone tell me he wouldn\'t have won if he debuted in January instead? Lack of a stakes win-Dunkirk has run in 1 graded stakes, against the only horse who has yet to beat him-the talented Quality Road-who if healthy would have been my top choice. Now make of it what you may, but Dunkirk made a big move into a race on a day when nobody was going to win doing that-Gulfstream had an inside bias that was responsible for the inside horses finding another gear in the stretch. Quality Road rode that bias to victory, but Dunkirk\'s race was huge. On a fairer track Dunkirk would have been closer or have won. If he really wanted a graded win with Dunkirk, all Pletcher had to do was run in either the Illinois or Arkansas Derbies. He would have won either of those races by a pole. I must admit Gomez choosing Pioneerof the Nile over Dunkirk is perplexing. All the speed figures show Dunkirk is a faster horse. Now add the fact that Pioneerof hadn\'t even worked out on a dirt surface since Baffert got him & the decision was insane. I\'m sure his agent weighed Baffert\'s 3 Derby wins vs Pletcher\'s 0 for 24 record in making this wrong decision. Now the Derby record of Todd Pletcher. Pletcher may be 0 for 24, but he can get a horse to run at his peak in the Derby. Twice he has overachieved with horses totally ignored
by the public, finishing 2nd in the Derby. Dunkirk is the most talented horse he\'s ever brought-don\'t look at the 0 for 24 as a negative, Pletcher runs 3 or more horses in most Derbies, and he\'s finished 2nd twice-there is no Derby Jinx on Todd Pletcher, he just hasn\'t brought the best horse,that is until May 2, 2009.
