JJ Graci went on the air and talked about Barbaro being dead. The guy has no credibility.

Brother Derek was the best horse that the West coast had going to the Kentucky Derby from a group that looked to be talented and improving. The group didn't improve and to compare this group to a horse (Bernardini) that sat on the side line during the run for the roses is simply not fair. Bother Derek will improve as he gets older and he will turn out to be another Precisionist racing on the West Coast and I wish his connections all the good luck.

I wish Brother Derek nothing but good luck; he is a game, talented horse. I do not agree with you about Bernardini; illness delayed his quest for the TC jewels. He ran a huge Preakness and he has been delivering ever since. He is a brilliant animal who is good for the game.

chese
 

sorry that was suppose to be cheese

man that cali cow can kick a soccer ball
crank was outrageous

He is where the bar has been set from most of us. The only true wyt to compare a group of horses is to race them. When BD won the Santa Anita Derby I don't think there was a horse in America that was going to beat him at home and that includes Barbaro. When Barbaro won the Kentucky Derby there wasn't a horse in the world that was going to compete with him that day and if he had stayed healthy Bernardini would of had the taste of defeat. Just the way I see it.

I dont see what the big hub bub is here about Joel is saying about Brother Derek. I dont agree with him but what is the problem that some of you are having with the opinion?

Maybe "fraud" is a harsh term but Ive been to the track enough to say that "fraud" is a rather mild way to refer to a horse that disappoints.

Opinions on horses are going to vary from good to bad. If only flowery opinions were posted here in reference to the ability of a said horse, then this place would be quite boring. Instead of bashing the "critic" wouldnt it be more constructive to simply defend the horse by stating its merits?

True, but that doesn't mean that I think he should die or anything.....I like the horse, just not as a racing performer...I like all horses!

Fraud is a relative term....a race track term...Nobody has ever heard that statement? That surpirses me with all the NYers on this site because I'm from New Orleans and those two places probably feature the biggest "knockers" in the racing industry...

I couldn't have said it any better, Steve.....

Leave it up to you know who to make a mountain out of an ant hill, especially suggesting that it was a smear against a handicap man because he trains the horse?...what a loser you are, sir....you are truly sick and the stereotypical racetracker that this sport gets a bad rep for at times...:(

For the 6tH TIME - fraud is a relative term...a racetrack term....I regret using it now because of the lack fo sense of humor on this thread...sorry..\

As for your final paragraph, that is what I get paid to do in a sense....

I'd hate to prove you wrong yet again.......:p

I'm glad somebody sees what I meant....Thanks Nost....I don't mean to be maliscious with any of my posts...."fraud" has negat6ive conotations to it when used in most way, but not in racing....it is as good as "overrated" or under-achiever" where I come from....

He's not a fraud, Gander...he is one of the best things and brightest stories this game has produced this year and every gguy who roots for the underdog or the little guy - like we all do at times - should really appreacite what Lava Man has done and cling on to him...

I was just pointing out that from an analysts standpoint he has failed everytime he has shipped out of California.....just check his PPs...doesn't mean he sucks or is a fraud in what many of you ercieve I meant by that word....

I think everyone knew that after that quote...that is Classic commentary from that trainer :D

Exactly......................

There was NO 3-year-old that got more press the first half of this year than Briother Derek did...NOne, zilch, nada....just pure facts...he got MUCH more attention in the media than Barbaro, Bluegrass Cat, Lawyer Ron and Sweetnorthernsaint wished they would have gotten.....that is the facts...

The two weeks leading up to the Derby at CD, there was NO horse that had more attention and press than Brother Derek.....I know because i was there every morning....they had press conferences for him every morning after he trained....Do you think Matz and the Barabro camp had that sort of attention?....Not at all. As a matter of fact, they were all in the same barn with Sweetnorthernsaint and Steppenwolfer - and Brother Derek got ALL the crowd every day.....

...he was the story, and whether or not he was bet down as the favorite in the race (by the way, his post position probably cost him from being the favorite if you want me to be quite honest...many people who understand handicapping and how the Derby is bet called that before the race even ran...) - he WAS the favorite for the Derby by all other accounts and was labled as that all spring...

Thus, when you are a BAD 4th in a short field in a non-listed stakes event after you have been working well for your second-season debut, you are going to get PLENTY of criticism form people who never believed the horse was genuinely a first-class animal of his generation....doesn't mean the horse sucks or desereves to die, or that I am making fun of Dan Hendricks for being in a wheel chair (like Oracle suggested), it just means that he is a fraud in the racetrack sense of the word - which means he was overhyped, an overachiever, etc....thats all :)

Hell, if he were to run in the Travers and run foruth off the layoff - then fine -but he ran 4th in a short field and had absolutely NO RESPONSE in a LISTED stakes event....

You wouldn't sit back and watch Tiger Woods win one tournament in a year, or sit back and watch Barry Bonds only hit 3 HRs in a year without making mention or noticing it, would you?...No..

It is my job as a racing analyst to noitice and acknowledge when this sort of activity happens with some of our games biggest equine figures so that people can be completely aware of the disappointment and completely understand it.....thats my job in a sense....

IMO (for all of you watcing TVG during the race), Simon Bray was trying to make excuses for his performnace saying that it will set him up nicely for next time, etc...which was all sugar-coating bull**** and I'm dissappointed as an analyst that he would mislead the public that way.....he should always be honest and educate the public...that is his job...I don't know if he was just trying to be optimistic, but ANY analyst who watched that race could have ZERO positive things to say about it for a horse of his stature to peform like that...go back and watch the race.....Solis wrapped up on him early in the stretch and this multiple Grade 1 winner could offer ZERO fight at any point in the stretch in a LISTED stakes event.....he eye-balled Cindago - who is only a maiden winner off a layoff longer than Brother Derek's - and Cindago absolutely broke his heart fair and square...a maiden off a layoff did!!!....I, for one, expect more from a multiple Grade 1 winner who was a highly-regarded as he was earlier this year when being the Derby favorite....

Just my opinion....

i think barbaro got a lot of attention, as did his trainer for the airplane story. and the fact he had not one, but two undefeated colts heading into the derby. barbaro also got attention because of the five week layoff.

bro derek may have been the #1 story for west coast horses, and of course he would get more press also because of giacomo, as well as his 'human interest' story with his trainer being in a wheelchair.

but i really think that if he had gotten so much more press altogether, that he'd have been the fave, not sweetnorthernsaint.

a lot of horses fail first time off a layoff. remains to be seen if that's the new bro derek, or if that race is a toss.

Many analysts hated the fact that Barbaro had a hard time putting away Sharp Humor in the Florida Derby...say what you will and I'm not saying I agree with that assessment, but I really don't think it was the layoff thing as much as it was the fact that many just thought he was a turf horse and Brother Derek was winning far more comfortably on the West coast - albeit he wasn't defeating anything that was worth much.....

Trust me from being around CD for the Derby, Brother Derek was the feature horse for the media and it wasn't even really close....yes, NBC clung to the plane stort because that is what NBC does...remember, that audience is not a core audience...those are one-time a year fans watching teh Derby and they want human-interest stories......Hendricks was another human-interest story, but Brother Derek still got all of the "Industry trades" attention....

Sweetnorthernsaint was the fave based on his works at CD, his post draw, and his wise-guy buzz about running fast in the illinois Derby and all other preps by accounts of all speed figure sheets.....and he was...if you go back and look, Sweetnorthernsaint was the fastest horse on all sheets..Thoroughgraph, Rags, Beyers...all of them he was right up there with the fastest numbers and best patterns....Plus, he showed that he coulkd carry his game all around the country....

Many very smart people who work for CD and have been oriernted with studying the Derby and been involved in it for YEARS agree that Brother Derek's draw probably cose him to being the favorite or close to the favorite..

Well thank heaven for the analysts and smart people at at CD who have studied the derby for years. Without them we wouldn't have been able to guess that with a better draw BD would have attracted more win money.

What next will they discover? Wait let me guess, If a horse runs well off the rail they lose ground?

Nice sarcasm, Jim....But seriously, I was like you whe I first showed up at CD before Derby 2005 ad I was truly amazedat the different sciences in place...say what you will about the corporation ad I have some things I certainly don't like about them, but they do have some very sharp people in certain places with loads of experience with making money out of the Derby niche.....Remember, this race is a dynamic of its own...it is no other race with advanced wagering, 20 horses, etc.....they know through extensive research how that product is affected ad one predictio that was right on key was that Brother derek would be a lot higher odds than normally anticipated with his outside post....and that is at a very elementary level...

I think you'd be surprised....Remember, we're not talking about Magna or NYRA here, we're talking about a corporation in this industry that actualy knows how to make money and run a profitable business in this industry - which is a rarity with the defficient businesses in our game...