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?