It's pretty simple...the filly wants her head and wants to go 46 and change or 47 flat. The 48 and 4 stuff allows other horses to be close who finish stronger than she does. She doesn't have an explosive turn of foot. You have to realize, when she goes 46 and 3 a horse has to go 48 and change just to be within ten lengths. They need to stop trying to make her rate and stop taking away her greatest weapon.
He has a shot, for sure. He ran very good in the Derby, considering most of the horses as close as he was completely collapsed. He got a good trip, but a big part of that was having the speed to stay in it early. He will be a deserving Preakness favorite, but he isn't a near-lock like some past Derby winners have been.
This is a worrisome comment. Although, I do think British trainers are much more likely to voice concerns before a race than their American counterparts. Still, not really a vote of confidence is it?
Tough to love how he has been acting in the mornings too. A horse trying to bolt repeatedly just a few days out from a race in front of 120,000 fans in a 20 horse field is not exactly encouraging.
Wesley Ward won the Group 2 Queen Mary as well as the Windsor Castle with juveniles at Ascot last year. He also had Cannonball run second in the extremely prestigious Golden Jubilee. Also about six years ago Var, an average US turf sprinter for Bill Mott, was shipped to Europe and promptly won the Prix l'Abbaye on the Arc undercard.
Everything you need to know is out there. Derby post positions are horribly overrated. Trips often come down to sheer racing luck which is completely unattached to post position. It is not reasonable to let post position greatly influence your Derby pick. That said, I really don't love Lookin At Lucky. But, I have a feeling any anti-Lucky comments will quickly be reduced to an East Coast bias rant.
I think he's an absolute stand-out. He is simply far faster than anything else in here. Reminiscent of Big Brown in 08. When Colonel John, much like L@L, took way more money than he deserved.
Nice, that's who I took in my video too! I think he's a strong play here...
Ghostzapper was a phenom. I honestly believe during his 4YO season he was the best horse in training at every distance from 6-10 furlongs. That is absolutely remarkable, it's a shame he didn't make more starts.
No love for Nacho Friend? That was a huge effort at Aqueduct off the monster lay-off..