I agree, and had a small future on him at 100-1 from Wynn. Not just because Animal Kingdom was successful last year, but there's certainly an easy path for a turf horse to get earnings for the derby with the number of graded turf/synthetic races.

Brilliance? Turf?

Sarcasm?

The dam's brilliance on turf...definitely no sarcasm. She was awesome.

Dorochenko owns Hero of Order I believe. Couldn't he be using him as a rabbit to ensure a fast pace for Russian Greek.

I would've liked to see Exothermic at least try the dirt with his turn of foot on the grass and the way he won those 2 races was 2nd flight stalking then turn it on at top of stretch.

Respectfully, kind Sir, are you being sarcastic?

Didn't she win or place in G1s in South Africa, England, Hong Kong and here (not to mention running in Dubai)?

She never ran away from competition, she ran toward it.

Put me on the list of those who think she was brilliant. :)

How many G1 winners were in this field?

http://www.hkjc.com/english/racing/r...2006&raceno=08

1 13 IRRIDESCENCE (G630) W C Marwing M F de Kock 122 956 6 - 2.02.00 5.8
2 3 BEST GIFT (D296) E Saint-Martin J Moore 126 1145 10 HD 2.02.00 12
3 12 OUIJA BOARD (G615) L Dettori E A L Dunlop 122 1007 8 HD 2.02.00 2.6
4 4 SUPER KID (C305) S Dye J Moore 126 1195 2 1-3/4 2.02.20 15
5 6 BULLISH LUCK (C155) B Prebble A S Cruz 126 1236 5 3-1/4 2.02.50 18
6 10 VIVA PATACA (G096) G Mosse J Moore 126 1108 12 4-1/2 2.02.70 3.5
7 5 BOWMAN'S CROSSING (B138) D Dunn C Fownes 126 1164 3 5-3/4 2.02.90 25
8 8 GREEN TREASURE (D225) Y T Cheng D Cruz 126 1144 4 6 2.02.90 47
9 2 RUSSIAN PEARL (E019) F Coetzee A S Cruz 126 1014 13 7-1/4 2.03.10 25
10 11 RIVER DANCER (C109) G Schofield J Size 126 1016 7 7-1/4 2.03.10 62
11 7 FALSTAFF (G627) D Whyte M F de Kock 126 978 11 13-1/4 2.04.10 51
12 9 LAVEROCK (G628) M Blancpain Laffon-Parias 126 1066 1 14-3/4 2.04.30 61
13 1 NORSE DANCER (G614)

No, not at all. Brilliance used to mean something different than it seems to now.

My frame of reference goes as far back as 2004 so yeah to me she is but I'd understand if to some of the old timers she isn't quite Man O' War.

Brilliant means extremely fast, speedy, and precocious.

Most horses who get slapped with the brilliant label can't rate -- a horse like Discreet Cat would be an exception.

Turf horses are rarely associated with the world brilliant.

Well yeah but 1. I never realized there was a prerequisite involved and 2. most people don't discuss Subway and anal in the same post but you do so there ya go. :p

Lure would be the closest thing to a Grade 1 caliber turf horse anyone would call brilliant.

I don't talk about anal -- but Subway has a 'buy one six inch get one free' special until 9AM everyday.

Get the steak -- provalone, jelapano, green peppers, and chipolte toasted on it. Add letuce, olives, and parm after it comes out and you have a masterpiece from a place who makes avg at best quality subs served by 17-to-20 year-old chicks.

So, when a stallion is given a Chef de Race rating of Brilliant (for example), you thought that meant turf?

What's the point of using words if you use them in a way that is different than what they mean in the first place? I mean, besides playing around that is, puns, etc...

Barbaro perhaps.

I'd have loved to have seen Lady's Secret try turf.

I'd loved to have seen Hard Spun try turf.
Danzig out of a Turkoman mare.

What do you mean? He won the Lane's End and Kentucky Cup Classic.

Intercontinental?

According to DRF.com

Horses pointined to the Jerome include Right to Vote, Adirondack King, Dan and Sheila, Sensor, and Term Loan.


Would think someone else would take a shot at some earnings AND why is Reveron goin to the Lex and not the Jerome,same amount of cash/on dirt/and prolly an easier field?

Baffert should enter Laison, Secret Circle, and Drill so Lukas is forced to enter Optimizer in the Crown Royal where he belongs! Oh and he can scratch all the Pegram horses after the draw. That will ruffle some feathers....

Will have to wait a little longer because I think they are doing an AE this year

Yeah, I always wondered why the Lexington was the last ditch place to get earnings, when the Jerome, though north into the New York area (resulting in having to ship into Kentucky later), offers as much, if not more, otherwise.

Correct me if I'm wrong, buy I believe Thr Jerome has only recently been switched to the spring, and used to be run in the early fall at Belmont.

no, you're right. it got moved to aqueduct, rather than at belmont later.

CD: 5/5/12 - Kentucky Derby (G1)

1 Hansen Michael Maker $1,550,000
2 Daddy Long Legs Aidan O'Brien $1,294,030
3 Union Rags Michael Matz $1,170,000
4 Dullahan Dale Romans $855,000
5 Creative Cause Mike Harrington $836,000
6 Wrote (IRE) Aidan O'Brien $756,630 -- Uncertain per Darren Rogers
7 Gemologist Todd Pletcher $703,855
8 Sabercat Steve Asmussen $701,429
9 Take Charge Indy Patrick Byrne $698,400
10 Secret Circle Bob Baffert $670,000 -- Uncertain per Darren Rogers
11 Bodemeister Bob Baffert $660,000
12 I'll Have Another Doug O'Neill $601,000
13 Daddy Nose Best Steve Asmussen $545,558
14 Liaison Bob Baffert $393,000 -- Uncertain per Darren Rogers
15 Alpha Kiaran McLaughlin $380,000
16 Prospective Mark Casse $367,327
17 Trinniberg Bisnath Parboo $324,500 -- Preakness
18 Done Talking Hamilton Smith $311,000
19 Drill Bob Baffert $300,000 -- Highly unlikely
20 Went the Day Well Graham Motion $282,000 -- Lexington
------------------------------------------------------------------------
21 Rousing Sermon Jerry Hollendorfer $270,000
22 Mark Valeski Larry Jones $260,000
23 El Padrino Todd Pletcher $250,000
24 Reveron Agustin Bezara $220,000 -- Lexington
25 Isn't He Clever Henry Dominguez $188,000
26 Optimizer D. Wayne Lukas $184,708
27 Castaway Bob Baffert $162,000
28 Currency Swap Teresa Pompey $150,000
29 My Adonis Kelly Breen $140,000
30. Brother Francis Jim Cassidy $135,000

The odds on both Drill and Secret Circle passing on the Derby are long.

Drill is certainly not running.

Trinniberg is an interesting story. He's a sprinter. In either the Derby or the Preakness he's going to run fast early and have a very low chance of hanging around until the end. So given that, why would you go to the Preakness and not just try the Derby? I suppose he might get an "easier" lead in the Preakness... but we're still talking about a really fast 6-7 furlong horse.

Because in the Derby he would have to face Bodemeister whose only wins have been on the lead and Hansen who stalked in the Gotham but otherwise guns it like a quarterhorse early... I could envison them opening up a 10 length lead on the field while deuling.

Trinniberg went 20 4/5ths for an opening quarter mile the last time he raced at Churchill ... and he ran the fastest Moss Pace figure ever published in the Hopeful as a 2yo.

He's able to relax this year because they've removed the blinkers and no one has been dumb enough to test him early.

With a huge crowd, 20 horse field, riders asking a little out of the gate for position, he's most likely going to get competitive and sprint. He'll fry all the tactical speeds and even mid-pack types. Anything within 12 lengths of him will totally stop.

Trinniberg isn't a front-end router like Hansen and Bodemeister -- he's a horse who could get the lead in a race like the Breeders Cup Sprint.

That is why I am putting together my list of horses making big moves from 3/4 home in the 9 FL preps. This looks like it really sets up for Dulahan but I have questions on whether he can get over dirt.

TRINNIBERG LIKELY TO BYPASS DERBY; DERBY TRIAL NEW TARGET

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (April 15, 2012) – With the final round of major prep races for the Kentucky Derby completed on Saturday, the Calder-based multiple graded stakes winner Trinniberg sits in 17th place in the latest graded-stakes earnings list. But even with his spot in the Derby starting gate seemingly assured, owner Shivananda Parbhoo has indicated that his colt is likely to pass the race.

“Right now I’m 85 percent not going to the Derby,” Parbhoo said on Sunday morning. “But I could reach 100 percent pretty soon. The way the horse is feeling right now, he’s doing so well, I don’t want to run him over his head. He’s a nice three-year-old with so many options the rest of the year. I don’t want to ruin him.”

While those mid-to-late season options could include such races as the Grade 2 Woody Stephens at Belmont Park on June 9 and the Grade 1 King’s Bishop at Saratoga August 25, the next option for the recent Grade 3 Bay Shore winner could be the $200,000 Grade 3 Derby Trial at Churchill Downs, run at the distance of one mile on April 28.

“We’ll work him some time between the 18th and the 20th, and then we’ll look at the Derby Trial as the next logical spot,” Parbhoo said. “I think the one-mile distance of that race is perfect for him. And it’s a way to stretch him out a bit, without asking too much of him.”

Following a possible start in the Derby Trial, Parbhoo hinted that Trinniberg could still make a Triple Crown appearance in Baltimore, contesting the Grade 1 Preakness Stakes on May 19. But even that option appears to be fading somewhat from the owner’s mind.

“The Preakness could still be a goal, but a lot of that would depend on how he ran in the Derby Trial,” Parbhoo said. “If we decide to run (in the Derby Trial) and he was to win that race really easy, then we might look at the Preakness. But right now, my thinking is that I’d really like to keep him at seven furlongs to one mile.

“Believe me, I want to go to the Derby; the day we bought our first horse, our dream was the Derby,” Parbhoo continued. “But it’s not about me, it’s about the horse. I won’t ruin a really nice horse just to say I ran a horse in the Kentucky Derby.”

saw that article yesterday. if only others would do the same thing.

:tro:

I just read that Wrote is not coming....DLL is making the trip.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. – Bodemeister, Secret Circle, and Sabercat, the first three finishers, respectively, in the Arkansas Derby on Saturday, all came out of the race in good order and will share a plane ride to Kentucky on Monday morning to begin final preparations for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, their respective camps said Sunday morning at Oaklawn Park.

from bloodhorse....

Thankfully there will still be time for Secret Circle to be cut back to sprints after his 14th place finish in the Derby.

I can only hope Secret Circle takes a lot of money, but with Bodemeister being named after Baffert's son, I am afraid the majority of Baffert lovers will end up there. Just wait until NBC does a heartwarming story on it Derby Day and watch Bode's odds drop.

Secret Circle will be 25-1 or higher.

Reveron passing on the Lexington, Ships Sunday to CD with hopes for the Derby per Marty McGee @ DRF

What six horses will he beat?