Pillow: Your horse is very live here.

Dahoss: Thanx but, there are no workout experts per se. The evaluations are subjective in nature and misinterpretation abounds.

With that said the Derby is unique and trainers have little room for error when preparing their horses. Solid cappers employ tradition to eliminate marginal contenders based on class, conditioning, pedigree, style and a plethora of "other" circumstances, unlike the eighth on Wednesday, at their favorite track.

Maybe Majestic Warrior is a come from behind sprinter and empirically that would be tough to refute? But he seems, at least to us, to be one of five or six possible Derby winners.

Class: By a Grade one winner...out of a Grade one winner and a Grade I victor himself! Case closed.

Conditioning: Billy is under no pressure here, Coolmore's on board and taking at face value that the Louisiana race will be his sophomore debut, indicates more than a little confidence from the unpretentious Mr. Mott that this one will stretch out nicely!

Pedigree: Inbred to both Secretariat AND Buckpasser ( both won the Hopeful)and being by A.P. Indy could certainly lead one to conclude that the ten panel Churchill trip is well within this ones scope.

Style: The woefully simplist E, P and S designations are of little use in everyday capping, let alone the Derby. Majestic Warrior won both his starts from the fence taking dirt and going away at the end, albeit against suspect foes and with good race shapes. Like many Derby winners, he appears push button and professional

From a workout standpoint and acknowledging that Philski is better at comedy than cappin, most AP Indy's have little early gas and this homebred is no different. It appears he has never beat a workmate and has been blown away at least twice by maidens, but Mott may now be able to tighten the screws. The Champagne when sent off a New York nickle over even money is a complete toss as MW ran like a "crab" and had hoof issues. Trainers lose sleep over blind quarter cracks and stone bruises and the ultimate diagnosis according to Kinsman was a hoof wall separaration. The benign three furlong works twelve days after his races indicate caution and the string of Saturday works as a sophomore are similar in nature to the work pattern before MW's debut. At any rate this one comes to hand fast and it will be revealing how he works tomorrow or Saturday.

Conclusion: One of a half dozen or so that can get the roses.

"Mr Callo.

That was a well thought out cogent post.....

Overruled!"

I didn't realize that you and Bill Mott were friends. However, if you think Mr. Mott is under no pressure with this horse because Coolmore is now involved you probably should rethink things. Between Steinbrenner and Coolmore I would imagine there is, in fact, a great deal of " pressure " with this horse. I highly doubt Coolmore paid the massive sum they did for half this horse for him to point for the Jerome. So, while you think pointing for Louisiana shows Mott's confidence, I will offer that is possibly indicates just how under the gun he is to attempt to make the Derby with this closing sprinter.

While he broke from the " fence " in both his starts, he took no dirt, so to speak, in the Hopeful as he quickly distanced himself from his other three rivals before looping them very late in the race.

Finally, while Phil has demonstrated time and again to understand " cappin " far better than you, I would also say that no matter how funny he may be, he is nowhere near the comedian you are. Don't sell yourself short......the laughs you provide around here are second to none.

I knew you would just love the "Billy"!

How do you know he is a closing sprinter? Let's hope your wrong.. I am sure Billy will give it his best shot..

I don't know he's a closing sprinter, obviously, but considering his running style emulates his dam almost to a T, it will hardly be surprising.

I wouldn't be surprised he was and I wouldn't be surprised if he won the Belmont. He is an Indy...If one can make a case for WP getting 10f's not so hard to think MW gets 10 or 12 as well.

I really thought this horse was pretty good and a successful 2 year old by Indy isn't the most common occurance. Maybe he is like you say, more like mom?

I thought Circular Quay had absolutely no chance in the Derby last year but not only do I think Majestic Warrior is more likely to be a closing sprinter than CQ but CQ was also FAR more accomplised at this point. I don't really get the buzz around this horse. Plodding past a spent Mayonnaise and Ready's Image after they tried to duel for seven furlongs wasn't anything to get excited about.

I think the connections and the pedigree lend themself to overreaction, dont you? I am one who swallowed the bait.
Something to be said for a 2 year old grade 1 Indy winner regardless of the race shape.

Only Mott's mother and BBB may call him Billy.

Then why on earth are you excited about the cheaper version (Denis of Cork) of him?

He's already won around two turns and already won in a race where the pace scenario played completely against him. You have to be a closer to win in those circumstances, not a plodder like Majestic Warrior. Barring an unforeseen infusion of speed horses into the Derby picture this year there is no chance of enough of a pace meltdown for a plodder to crack the superfecta even if that plodder turns out to like 10 furlongs which is a big question mark.

So he went an extra turn and panel in the Southwest and caught horses that went ridiculously fast on the front and he's not a plodder?

He beat the great Unbridled Vicar at Fair Grounds but he showed heart...BEATING UNBRIDLED VICAR BY A NOSE????!?!?!

Denis of Cork has absolutely no shot in the Derby. I hope he's the the favorite.

If Dennis of Cork was a plodder he would not have been anywhere close to the fast pace in the Southwest. Comparing him to Majestic Warrior makes little or no sense. If you like Majestic Warrior that's fine.....but he is completely different type of horse than Dennis of Cork.

The point is if Majestic Warrior had the same setup against the great Unbridled Vicar he wouldn't have beat him and the slow pace would have been the excuse. The fact is, Denis of Cork had excuses to lose and got it done in that race even if the time was slow and the competition soft. I don't think he is as good a Derby contender as War Pass and Pyro at this point. I said a couple weeks back I'd take those two against the field and feel pretty good about it. As a third choice though I think Denis of Cork is as good as any and certainly a better option than Majestic Warrior.

Since when do plodders run seven furlongs in 1:23 flat? If we're going to "make sense" lets go after ridiculous assumptions that result in mockery.

What about the Southwest? How would he have fared in that race?

The colt has had a total of 3 starts with 1 of them health compromised. You are drawing a lot of conclusions from so little data. His second dam was a fairly acomplished router and he sure does have a great trainer in BILLY(for you BBB)..
I worry more about him not having a couple more races in him then if he plods or if he develops a little more turn of foot. He is 6 months older lets see what 08 brings before we label him Saarland 2 the sequel

Plodding is a running style that is mistakenly used as an insult to horses. It has more to do with how the horse runs the race than how fast they do it. Like other running styles there are both fast and slow plodders.

By no means do I think there is no chance the horse will develop into a legit Derby horse. I just think there are a lot of reasons to think he won't. Considering he looks like the poor man's version of Circular Quay at this point though I find the buzz around him to be puzzling.

Majestic Warrior is not a plodder.

1. To move or walk heavily or laboriously; trudge: "donkeys that plodded wearily in a circle round a gin" D.H. Lawrence.