JC / Railbird

Kentucky Derby

Get Used to It

Mike Repole, owner of Uncle Mo and Stay Thirsty, on prepping for the Derby:

“Many of you guys are questioning ‘two Derby preps. Two Derby preps.’ I do my history: (the last four) Derby winners have had two Derby preps. I think that’s going to be the trend from now on.”

It’s the way of the future, in which trainers don’t feel constrained by the past.

Posted in Racing on March 9, 2011 / Tagged Derby Preps, Derby Prospects, Kentucky Derby, Prep Schedules, Uncle Mo / Comments Off on Get Used to It

No (Derby) Future

Dick Powell evaluates Derby Future Wager prospects:

I am throwing out any horse that races or trains at Santa Anita. The newly installed dirt surface there is still too hard and already you are seeing problems. By the time the Santa Anita Derby (G1) is run on April 9, the horses stabled there are going to be pretty banged up by the constant pounding.

Hate to think what that might mean for my #2, Jaycito.

Posted in Racing on February 18, 2011 / Tagged California, Derby Prospects, Future Wager, Jaycito, Kentucky Derby, Santa Anita / 2 comments

The Triple-Digits

Dick Jerardi surveys this year’s 3-year-old division and finds it fast:

What we know is that we already have five 3-year-olds that have hit triple digits and more that are closing in on the magic number.

Last year’s lack of big Beyers three months from the Derby was a tip-off to an underwhelming Triple Crown season. There are no promises in this game, but there is at least promise at this stage.

By the Beyer speed figures, you have to go back to 2007 to find sophomores as promising in February and March. That year’s Kentucky Derby included Street Sense, Hard Spun, Any Given Saturday, and eventual HOTY Curlin.

Posted in Racing on February 10, 2011 / Tagged Beyer Speed Figures, By the Numbers, Derby Prospects, Kentucky Derby, The Glamour Division / Comments Off on The Triple-Digits

Feeling Feverish

The first installment of the Paulick Derby Index is up, and the top three horses are no surprise. Not that I can judge! I too made Uncle Mo #1. As for the consensus #3, Dialed In, I left him out, although I might not had I looked at the Holy Bull winner’s fractions per DRF Formulator before compiling my top 10. After a slow first quarter of :25.78 during which he fell more than 10 lengths off the lead, the colt ran the second quarter in a strikingly quick :21.58 and then finished faster than the rest of the field with a final quarter of :24.16. Speed and raw talent are certainly there, and I may have to concede after Dialed In’s next start (possibly in the Fountain of Youth) that dismissing him now was sheer contrarianism on my part. Re: my #10, that’s supposed to be Heron Lake, a Bernardini-sired Gulfstream maiden winner trained by Nick Zito, not any of the three Herons listed by Equibase, none 3-year-olds.

2/2/11 Addendum: “At this point, no one is saying that Dialed In is a good as the 2010 juvenile champion …” Nice to hear there’s a limit to the giddiness.

Posted in Racing on February 1, 2011 / Tagged Derby Prospects, Dialed In, Kentucky Derby, Lists, Paulick Derby Index, Uncle Mo / Comments Off on Feeling Feverish