baltimore bound

[Michael D.]

sinister g, minister eric, limehouse, st averil, one or two from the lexington stks. chances for eddy and RHT are looking slim. maybe time for some new rules? maybe 5 at-large bids?

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

I thought they were still monitoring St.Averil\'s right front. He\'s got ouchy feet. Why they ran him at Santa Anita knowing that is beyond me. Maybe its softer than its been.

ok ur right sinister is in...

but Value Plus looks questionable...

Or increase the field to 24?  20 horses on a mile track this is gonna be wild.



Post Edited (04-16-04 00:16)

[bdhsheets]

Presently, St Averil is wearing \"egg\" bar shoes on both front feet. Can\'t see him going.

I believe Pletcher has declared VP out of the Derby.

Not my idea, but from another member on the Bloodhorse Forum:

Set up the Derby entries as in the Breeders Cup. Automatic bids to the top 12 money earners entered and a committee decides the rest of the field on merit. [yeah, I hate it when committees try doing this and maintaining some form of objectivity, lol] It seems like a plausible solution, as long as Battaglia isn\'t on the committee.

[Michael D.]

limehouse, not VP ....... 20 horses is plenty (15 automatic, 5 at-large is my pick)..... just looking out for the for the best interests of CD. i mean, if eddy or RHT were to run well in the other triple crown events, the travers, and the BC, wouldn\'t that in some way diminish the importance of this year\'s derby? what if it happens again next year?

[Michael D.]

here\'s one to consider: all of the top 3 yr olds are either pointing towards the derby, or are running tomorrow. the derby trial might come up very weak. the question: what\'s the difference between RHT working 1:11 next saturday in preparation for the derby, and RHT working 1:11, and then galloping out another quarter in :26 in preparation for the derby?? answer: a possible spot in the derby. i would never run a horse on seven days rest, but seriously, would the extra quarter mean that much difference. the derby trial might just go in 1:37.

[Chuckles_the_Clown2]

I think the at large bids would penalize horses that worked to attain the graded earnings, so I really wouldn\'t agree with it. Plus its subjective, who gets the bid and why? The talented horses pushing for the Derby that are on the bubble, couldn\'t get cranked up early enough. Not only that, they LOST their big races to get in. I certainly can\'t see how penalizing horses that planned for meeting the conditions is proper. Its not like the horses on the bubble are sure shot better horses. How many times does a horse win the Derby that the betting public really didn\'t consider to be in the upper echelon?

Theres big races down the road, If Rock Hard Ten and Eddington don\'t get in they\'ll have plenty of chances to prove that they belonged but circumstances got in their way.

It\'s within their power to make the field. The Derby Trial is there. Plenty of horses have raced in it and gone on to win the Kenturky Derby. This year is proof that the careful path may not be what its been cracked up to be. That said, I\'m starting to think Tapit is more horse than I imagined.

[Michael D.]

sure sinister g won a big prep, and eddy and RHT lost big preps, but which races were better? do you want all connections shooting for the worst graded stakes races they can find in order to get into the derby? ......  the kentucky derby is one of the top three dirt races in the world. the race, however, will not keep this status if the best three yr olds are not involved on a regular basis. which are the best? sure it will be tough to figure out, but at-large bids are handed out in plenty of sports, and the system seems to work in the end.