With less than three weeks to go, Bellamy Road is far and away the Kentucky Derby favorite thanks to his eye-popping, jaw-dropping, 17 1/2 length, record-setting, 120 Beyer figure Wood Memorial win.
That was a pretty good performance.
But the Kentucky Derby isn’t a six furlong sprint with a short field; to the fastest goes the roses isn’t a rule. As Michael Hammersly points out in the Daily Racing Form — sub. req.:
The [best last race Beyer] guarantees you nothing, good or bad. Big figs have gone into the Derby and lost; big figs have gone into the Derby and won. It might mean only that a horse is a good horse, capable of big thing.
There’s also the matter of his inexperience — Bellamy Road has had only five races, in which he’s won four, three of those wire-to-wire — and even with a four week layoff, he can’t escape the specter of bounce. These are objections serious enough that I’ll pass on hopping the Bellamy bandwagon. He’s unquestionably a top five Derby prospect, but he’s no sure thing. I’ll take Afleet Alex, Bandini, and Noble Causeway ahead of George Steinbrenner’s freaky little colt.
Related: “Can Afleet Alex beat Bellamy Road on Derby day? Absolutely,” says Bob Neumeier. (MSNBC)
More Derby news …
Posted by JC in Racing on 04/20/2005 @ 10:55 am / Tagged Kentucky Derby / Follow @railbird on Twitter
“Graphic, high-quality replications of pounding horses and photo finishes at the virtual victory line amounts to a slur on Secretariat and his progeny — not to mention on the young father I quietly watched juggling his good fortunes with a tot-filled stroller at one hand and a heavily marked tout sheet in the other.
“Up from a similar gambler’s bloodline, I had $10 on Dr. Rockett to win in the third at a mile and an eighth. Leading desperately down the stretch, my horse was suddenly bumped off stride by a wayward competitor, Exaggerate This, who flashed across the finish line as the unofficial winner by a nose. Assorted hoots, groans and vulgarities rose up toward the jetliner traffic from Kennedy.
“No way virtual racing could match the scene: sunshine-drenched anxiety, replays of my bumped horse on the infield screens, the wait for an official result with serious money and sweating thoroughbreds on the line.” (New York Times)
Posted by JC in The Sport on 04/20/2005 @ 10:35 am / Follow @railbird on Twitter
