ROTW

[Rick B.]

Being a native son of the South Side of Chicago, I suppose it is my duty to make a pitch for making the Illinois Derby the Race of the Week.

12 horses, not many super quality types in here, but a couple of TC-nominated horses could be of interest. The Fed Eased and El Grayling are the ones I recognize...others? Didn\'t check.

If nothing else, the race might be good for some bombage, on a weekend where your other TC prep choices might boil down to trying to beat Uncle Mo at 3/5on again...or watching Comma To The Top cap a $22 trifecta.

[Wrongly]

Looks more like a NW1X Allowance then a derby prep.  Shippers from Mountaineer, Laurel, Penn National.  Yuck!

[Rick B.]

Wrongly Wrote:
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> Looks more like a NW1X Allowance then a derby
> prep.  Shippers from Mountaineer, Laurel, Penn
> National.  Yuck!

Now, now...let us eschew snootiness in these matters. The horse can\'t help it if his home track is a bit on the sucky side.

I remember an N2X-eligible shipper from Ruidoso Downs that won the Derby, and came within a dirty snot of winning the whole TC (thank you, Victory Gallop, for preventing that fraudulent occurrence)...and yet another Derby winner from that time-tested Triple Crown prep race at Sunland Park.

Really...if we just \"knew\" which prep was going to produce the winner every year, it wouldn\'t be much fun, now would it?

[TGJB]

I\'ll look at the Haw race. There\'s a ton of stakes to choose from this week.

[miff]

Santa Anita Derby very interesting!

FWIW,Kool Aid drinker told me Uncle Mo is a toss because he did not get back to his 2 yr old top in his first start, BRILLIANT!!on many racing levels.


Mike

[TGJB]

We don\'t sell that kind of Kool-Aid here.

[miff]

....phew!

[Wrongly]

Sorry Rick didn\'t mean any insult to you.  The horse coming from Sunland Park had won a major graded race in Canada as a 2-year old. Just disgusted by the quality of the field.

[Rick B.]

No insult taken, no apologies needed. These horses are -- how shall we say -- a cut below. OK, a BIG cut.

The money they pay out at Hawthorne is just as green as the $3.60 Uncle Mo is going to pay this Saturday, however, and if anybody can find the high-priced fooler(s) in the Illinois Derby, it\'s the TG Analysis crew. It\'s not even a question anymore -- just read ROTW, and bet.

And JB is right -- there are a TON of stakes this week. Illinois Derby might not be the right race for what particular nugget TG is trying to share this week. I smell money, that\'s all I\'m trying to say.

[number5858]

Don\'t forget the ultimate Illinois Derby handicapping factor - any horses have an Arab Sheik interested in purchasing them?

[FrankD.]

Rick B.

As an adopted Chicagoan for 7 years in the 80\'s I\'m all for the Illinois Derby on one condition ?

We bring it back to the bull ring at Sportsman\'s Park and have a geometry lesson for a 3 turn 1 1/8 race on a 5/8th track ! I did love that place.

Frank D.

[Rick B.]

FrankD. Wrote:
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> Rick B.
>
> As an adopted Chicagoan for 7 years in the 80\'s
> I\'m all for the Illinois Derby on one condition ?
>
> We bring it back to the bull ring at Sportsman\'s
> Park and have a geometry lesson for a 3 turn 1 1/8
> race on a 5/8th track ! I did love that place.
>
> Frank D.

You sure know how to make a grown man cry, Frank.
 
Nothing but sweet memories of that place. Don\'t remember ever losing for very long there.

Some people thought it was a sh*thole, sure, but it was MY sh*thole...which of course meant it was doomed.

I no longer want to kill Chip Ganassi (the NASCAR guy that sweet-talked Stormy Bidwell into building that stupid auto / horse race track combo where War Emblem ran the +/- 150 Beyer in the \'02 Ill. Derby), but if you ever hear that he fell down a flight of stairs or something, you might want to check on my whereabouts at the time.

[TGJB]

Ill. Derby is interesting, but the Bay Shore is more interesting, so I\'m doing that one.

[Rick B.]

TGJB Wrote:
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> Ill. Derby is interesting, but the Bay Shore is
> more interesting, so I\'m doing that one.

Without a doubt. After looking at the race, I\'m pretty sure I know who the suggested play will be...and if we get that price? Christmas in April!

[richiebee]

Rick B. Wrote:
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> TGJB Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Ill. Derby is interesting, but the Bay Shore is
> > more interesting, so I\'m doing that one.
>
> Without a doubt. After looking at the race, I\'m
> pretty sure I know who the suggested play will
> be...and if we get that price? Christmas in April!


NYRA doesn\'t quite make up for an unbettable winter of racing with 3 decent
stakes races, followed by the Resorts World New York Casino Wood Momorial
sponsored by DelMonte. Of course there are a few Hayward/Campo specials on the
card ($7500 claimers).

If the Bay Shore is Christmas, the Carter may be New Years. My initial opinion
(haven\'t seen #s yet) is that there are decent questions surrounding the 2 runners
in the Carter who will likely take most of the action in the 500K added P4.