Midshipman

Medlocke · I'd be the first to admit that Vale of York looked impressive in his win in the Breeders Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita back in November. But other than that run that he made over the synthetic main track at Santa Anita, all of his other racing has been done on turf at race tracks primarily in Great Britain. If Godolphin is looking to make a potential Kentucky Derby contender out of Vale of York, you'd think they would be looking to race him in some of the conventional dirt track Derby Prep races, just to see how he's going to respond to the surface. JMO. · 17 days ago

Rossington · Both of O'Brien's horses, Rip Van Winkle and Mastercraftsman are for real. I've watched a lot of replays of races that they've either won or gave Sea The Stars all he wanted. Personally, although O'Brien doesn't seem to think so, I feel that Mastercraftsman is a bit more talented even then Rip Van Winkle. I plan to bet Mastercraftsman whether he's in the Dirt Mile or the Classic. I do, however, feel that Rip Van Winkle will be right there with the front runner's come Classic's end. If she sticks with the Classic, it would for me be difficult not to bet Zenyatta to at least hit the board. She handles the synthetics and most particularly Santa Anita race course as well as any horse in racing does. Since it seems that most good turf horses do well on the pro-ride surface, I also wouldn't rule Gio Ponti out of this race either. Beyond that, it's difficult to say. Einstein has done well here in the past having won the S.A. Handicap earlier in the year. Richard's Kid, although a longshot, has done exceedingly well on synthetics having won the Pacific Classic and finishing third in the Goodwood. Summer Bird and Quality Road are the question mark's to me in the race. Having raced exclusively on conventional dirt, no one really knows how they will fire on synthetics. If he does, I feel Quality Road may be sitting on a big race having been bogged down on off tracks his last two races. Colonel John is also proven on synthetics, although I think this particular group of horses may be a little better competition than he used to facing. All and all, this is a tough race to handicap with a lot of "what if" factors to consider. I anxiously await. · 140 days ago

gardenesque1 · Great to see Midshipman back on the beam! · 180 days ago