I'll tell you, if I had TVG or HRTV and listened to these fools proclaim champions or whatever, I'd deserve whatever ill would come my way.

Won easy, yes.

Pretty fast, yes.

Beat anything? Absolutely not.

That's silly but he's got a lot of talent.

It's hard to judge the mile races versus 7F races, as in general the miles have been much slower, perhaps due to the insufficient run-up, but both maiden races were run in 1:23 1/5. Both of those winners are promising, and I don't think it's unfair to say that his 1:35 3/5 is four to six lengths faster than those races.

I haven't watched Gulfstream....is it a sealed track? If so that makes all the races tricky to take on face value. However, no matter how you cut it, Big Brown can run.

He was impressive against a weak field, perfect setup. Let's hope they bring him back in the Fountain of Youth so we can see if he's for real. Siegel was floored. Who's your other horse-Ready's Echo?

And he was seriously geared down...the other were running at the end...

It should read the Florida Derby. Cool Coal Man won the FOY.

I realize he beat nothing and it was a perfect set-up for him. But I thought it was as impressive as could be expected from any horse under the circumstances. And yes, Ready's Echo is the other one although with that style, you always have to worry about traffic problems.

I still can't believe he was like 19-1 in his maiden win.

We will have to agree to disagree on this.

After watching the races, Big Brown got his 7F in 1:22.69 I believe. He won like he was supposed to and if he keeps it together physically, which I doubt, he's probably OK. Unfortunately for him he is going to be rushed, if he stays sound, most likely to the Blue Grass and then probably the Preakness after he fails to qualify for the Derby. If he was given a more sane program it's very possible, if he stays sound, that he could really have something to say later in the year. I highly doubt that will happen.

As for Ready's Echo.....fast pace, weak field, sweet trip, but a very nice effort still after a six month layoff. I would imagine his connections won't be crazy enough to bury him in the Florida Derby. Maybe they will run him in a race like the Bay Shore on Wood Day or even the Withers three weeks later. I'm surprised he didn't have a lot more speed today ( obviously he wasn't going to be 25 lengths behind early ) but he also has the kind of running style that tends to make people overrate his performances. Still, he seems like a neat horse and could easily make some noise later. How far he goes remains to be seen but hopefully he won't get buried before he has a chance to show where his niche lies.

At least they didn't compare Ready's Echo 3yo return race with Ghostzapper's I guess.

Yes, that's what I meant. Thanks for the correction.

I'm not sure I understand with what you disagree with me regarding? I was only stating that Big Brown was geared down, whereas the 7f runners were running at the end of their respective races, thus making BB performance all the more impressive...

I heard Gulfstream got .01 inch of rain. I'm relieved they took the races off the turf.

I think he ran as fast as he was capable of in this race.

Oh, okay...it didn't look as though he was even asked...i did think it was a little odd how wide he went...a sign of another layoff line perhaps?

While the game is speed driven, it doesn't necessarily follow that it need be always considered from a speed perspective.

For example, all three winners today ran greenly. BB ran the straightest of the 3 in the stretch but he didn't exactly keep the most direct path for a horse that won in hand. And he was needlessly wide.

But the real interesting question is who picks out Klaravich's horses?

I guess I got my answer. Just as well as on turf, if not better.

Seems like this has to be the case, based on the internal fractions with legitimate horses at a mile. Almost all have the 2nd quarter better than the 1st, as was the case with this race.

I definitely agree. Big Brown is listed at 150-1 currently in the Vegas future book. I'll be in Nevada in a couple weeks, and will definitely take a flier at that price, mostly because I know IEAH will do everything they can to get him there, and outside of War Pass I haven't seen a colt that can run with him.

"geared down" doesn't necessarily mean he can go faster, then again he really doesn't need to to be competitive with the rest of the 3yo crop right now. What I liked most about the race was the only other two legitimate horses tried to hang with him on the front end and got destroyed.

I'll be honest with you Phil.......I think he is much higher than 150-1 to win the Derby. I honestly don't know that he's even 10-1 to have the earnings for the Derby.

But, he's got a lot of ability.

I figure he's 2-1 to finish in the top 3 of the FL Derby, which will likely be their next objective, and probably enough earnings to make the cut (usually right around $120k). Obviously he's got some issues... but this is IEAH. They're DESPERATE for a Derby starter. Let's say hypothetically he makes it into the gate off an exacta finish in the Fl Derby... how many horses would be lower odds? 4-6, maybe? We're desperate for some talent right now- outside of War Pass, have any of these shown the brilliance required to win the Derby? Cool Coal Man is OK, Pyro is OK, the rest of them, not so much...