makes me wonder about Dunkirk. hmmm...

John White's doing back flips.:D

Dunkirk just can't impress a jockey.

Johnny V. took some Albertrani debuter over him in his debut.

Prado took Alma D' Oro over him 2nd time out.

:tro:

I think he just got his shorts wet.

perfect! lol

I wonder what the going rate is for a leading rider in the KY Derby these days.

Less than being able to put NetJets, or whatever, on your pant leg?

Gomez made a big mistake here. Pioneer of the Nile has too many question marks. Will he take to dirt ? Can he rate/get the 1 1/4 ? His last two races he sure as hell looked like he wanted to be up close early. Plus POTN has beaten some horrendous fields. Hopefully Pletcher gives the mount to anybody but Ramon D. Hopefully Orlando Mojica isn't taken yet.

$50,000 was the rumored figure.

I laughed.

Prado on Dunkirk. Better than Ramon I guess.

I'll take the over.

Oh my God.

Yeah, Chocolate Candy is a monster.

Especially compared to that monster allowance field that Dunkirk beat after that monster maiden field he beat.

Look, this is really not as complicated as I think some of you think it is. The Derby is one race. Maybe Dunkirk wins. Maybe he's the better choice for THIS race. But is he the better choice for the remainder of the season? I don't know if that's true. If Pioneer loses the Derby, he can come back to California and continue dominating 3yos in races like the Affirmed and Swaps and with the way the older horses look out here, he'd have to rate strong consideration in races like the Pacific Classic and Goodwood and remember, while he has the dirt question to answer, he doesn't have the pro-ride question to answer and this year, the BC is again on the pro-ride. Everyone is wondering about Pioneer's having to answer the dirt question but in the race that will likely be the decider for HOY, a lot of others will have to answer the pro-ride question. Also, with whatever Dunkirk's issues were to get him started so late plus the fact that he's not from the soundest of sire lines, which one seems like the safest bet to still be around at the end of the year?

i'd imagine that gomez would be welcomed to whatever horse he showed a future interest in riding, derby choice notwithstanding.

If The Derby was being held at SA and at 1 1/8th then I think POTN would be the horse to beat. He will offer no value Derby day, especially with Gomez. Nobody has any idea if he will like the dirt.

With Dunkirk you get a horse who obviously will love the longer distance and loves the dirt. He ran HUGE in the Fla Derby to a very nice horse.

I am sure the fact that Gomez plans on riding in Cali most of the year had a huge impact on his decision. He wasn't gonna burn any bridges with Baffert.

Is it?

I think so. Although Prado has been riding with his head up his arse the whole KEE meet, I can't trust Domiguez riding a horse in a 20 horse field. Whoever he rides will find traffic trouble at least 9 times during the Derby.

Whether or not Dunkirk will still be around at the end of the year....or whether this will secure POTN for Gomez for the rest of the year...

This is the DERBY!!! Who cares about who you're riding in the BC....the Kentucky Derby is the most important thing in horse racing, you pick the best horse regardless of the rest of the year

You did a great job of explaining why the sport is dying. The Derby is a huge race, no doubt. But it's just one day in 365.

There is also a difference between Ron Anderson and Bob Freize.

Eric

I'm assuming, given that I know you, that this is NOT a weight joke.

Yeah the interest in the derby is the reason why the sport is dying.

Don't delete this sarcastic remark after the Derby.

omg

Not to mention Chocolate Candy is probably the 3rd-best horse POTN has beaten this year.

I'm sure stonegossard is about 5 seconds away from reminding everyone that I said the economy was "not that bad" a year ago. But no matter how dumb of me that was, saying POTN has beaten horrendous horses this year is as asinine a statement as I have seen in a long time.

It's almost as if he's only watched one race all year. And say what you want about the SA Derby field, but it's going to produce three Derby starters.

It's not the interest in the Derby that is the problem, it's the idea that the Derby is end all be all and that nothing else matters that's the problem.

What?

If he wanted to say the fields weren't that good and say that you can't compare what IWR and Papa Clem did in those races to what they have done after because they are better dirt horses, I wouldn't agree but I'd at least kind of understand. But he mentioned that the fields weren't that good in his argument of why Gomez made the wrong choice between Dunkirk and Pioneer and in comparing the fields the two of them have beaten, that makes the statement rather stupid.

Nah Justin, you embarassed yourself enough with that whole ordeal. Nothing I can say can even come close to that. Maybe I will take a sledgehammer to my head 10 to 15 times and then post something. Even then it will be tough to match your brilliance from last year.

Actually his Robert Lewis race was against some nice horses. My bad. But his last two were against some real duds.

Hilarious.

You are a bona fide jackass.

I actually kind of like Chocolate Candy...but, that must be because I'm a girl and I like the prettiest horsie with the cutest name. ;) That, and I like chocolate....a lot.

I just think it's difficult to get a real read on the synthetics horses...maybe they jump up huge with the move to dirt...not unlike IWR...maybe they don't...it's a crapshoot. :zz:

Please....he barely lost to Quality Road on a speed favoring track. QR had a MUCH easier trip that day, and Dunkirk still gave him a run for his money. POTN beat IWR, who is a very nice horse, no doubt. Is he better than Quality Road, not so sure. Papa Clem beat an injured horse who was not gonna get the distance at OP, and behind that a bunch of real bad horses.

In my opinion Gomez chose a horse who is unproven on dirt and will be a question mark getting the distance. That's where I believe he made the mistake.


Hey, I hope the betting public hammers POTN,IWR, and Papa Clem. That way I will get a good price on Dunkirk.

I think if you had been able to make this argument to Anderson and Gomez, they likely would have landed on Dunkirk. I doubt they considered any of the above.

Justin,

You cemented yourself in the idiot hall of fame last year. After you came out of hiding (that was impressive on your part, really...you were wrong , so you high tailed it........reather gutless on your part) you still have not lost your lock on moronic commentary on here.

The fact that you have some kind of horse racing blog on here shows just have far the internet has gone. Scary.

Keep up the good work.

Dunkirk is going to take a ton of money and he is going to need EVERYTHING to go perfectly. I question Dunkirk's ability to get 1 1/4, especially with the way he looked after the FL derby...looked like he was going to collapse. I will admit though...he's a game SOB...he kept on trying.