Question about Scat Daddy?
 

Prado or Velasquez?

I'd be shocked if Johnny V chose to ride him over all the other Pletcher horses. Prado may stay aboard, but I'm not sure what other mounts Prado has (if any) this weekend, or in the Bluegrass next weekend.

you think Vel. and Prado might choose other mounts for the Derby, and Pletcher might go to a guy like Bejarano for Scat Daddy?

I hope not. I think that Prado is a good match for Scat Daddy. I hope he sticks with him...

I think me and you Cajun are the only two pulling for Scat Daddy in the Derby.

No, you aren't the only two, because, even though we disagree on THE Ohio State University, we do agree on pulling for Scat Daddy in a couple of weeks...

ALostTexan

Best company you've ever been in there buck.;)

I think so. LOL

I'm normally a faithful sort, and I've liked him since his maiden win at Belmont. Regardless of how well he runs in the Derby, he's already proven to me that he's a nice colt. I'm sold on him. :)

That is why I like him too, I was up at the track and watched Scat Daddy win his first race at Belmont. I remember the guy next to me yelling that "the big favorite" wasn't going to pull it out, I laughed at him and said, just wait til he turns it one, and sure enough he did!

I don't dislike the horse. I haven't scratched him off my list yet. He is actually impressing me.

I think he's going to run 7th in the Derby.

I think he will be in the top 5 ATLEAST.

THAT will be your new signature after the first Saturday in May.

I'm just trying to piece together the race, since we've already decided that Cowtown Cat will run 16th, Scat will run 7th, so I've already pieced together 10% of the results.

I would never put that in my sig, and you couldn't either, so ha!

Put Prado on the Daddy in the Derby and I think he might pull away down the stretch!

Well dammit! You suck. :D

I am still just hoping that Scat Daddy gets the 9 post, since we know that the #9 is going to win, regardless of who the horse is...

ALostTexan

If by top 5, you mean Scat Daddy will run 7th in the Derby, then yes, I agree completely :)

I mean he (SD) will be in one of the top five spots. Sorry if I confused you. :D

All dem numbers got me confused.

I may have worded it funny.

I hope Pletcher runs 2nd-6th.

Scat Daddy
 

Scat Daddy caught of couple of decent trips at GP winning the FOY and Fla Derby. And while he deserves credit for winning each of those races, how good was the competition? Does he really want to go 1 1/4 miles?? To me there was nothing awe inspiring about the last eighth he ran in either of those races which suggests to me that he's probably got a distance limitation of 1 1/8 miles. I think he needs a favorable post, a dream trip and a pace meltdown (think Giacomo) to win the Derby. We'll see.

the competition was nothing, just Nobiz, adore the gold, stormello, chelokee, notional. No big deal, they are nothing.

I really agree with this assessment except for the competition part, he did beat everyone who showed up and the FOY field was pretty good. Scat Daddy just kind of goes about his business in a very ho-hum way. While a very nice horse I don't see him really kicking it in over the final two furlongs to either run horses down or hold horses off.

NT

Didn't we all say the same thing about Barbaro last year? Only it was "he can only run on grass and wet dirt" and "who has he beaten".

I'll give you the latter. In my writeup on my blog last year I said:

8. Barbaro
Hard to knock, but I can't support for the win. I think the horses he's been beating aren't amounting to much. Like his experience against big fields, but for him to stay undefeated is something I'm not willing to risk

With that said, the competition is not why I don't like Scat Daddy, I'm just not blown away by any of his performances. I can't take away what he's done and he deserves credit for winning the last two, I just don't think that when push comes to shove at the quarter pole that he will be the one to hit the wire first. Or second or third or fourth or fifth or sixth. Seventh sounds about right :D

Hardly, didnt Barbaro run a 103 or 104 in the Florida Derby? The only similarities I see between Scat Daddy and Barbaro is that they both won the Florida Derby. The Derby distance wasnt a question for Barbaro as it is for Scat Daddy, who continues to come home in slow final fractions. I think Scat Daddy is a very good horse, but I dont see him running well in the Derby. Time will tell.

Scat Daddy
 

I don't recall saying those fields were "nothing". I simply questioned the quality of them vis-a-vis all that's out there right now including Street Sense, Any Given Saturday (my top 2), Hard Spun, Great Hunter, Circular Quay, etc. Nobiz, IMO, is the only bona fide Derby-quality steed of those you mention. Adore the Gold and Stormello are simply very good colts who have distance limitations. Same thing with Notional. He's third string in O'Neill's contingent. Chelokee's claim to fame to date was overcoming a tough trip to beat a good allowance bunch and may not even make the Derby because of a lack of graded earnings. (Jury is still out on him, however.)

Notional is a damn good colt.

I am not overly hyped about any horse at this point. I have a few that I like. I am just trying to point out that I don't think we should throw SD out like yesterday's newspaper. He is a nice horse, but is he my pick to win the Derby? I don't think so.

I hope that everyone hates him on Derby day. More $$ in my pocket when he wins.

Notional
 

Sure he is. The question is whether he is cut out to win the Derby. I say no.

There are going to be more than a few horses in this years Derby who would benefit from a pace meltdown--and, in my opinion, Scat Daddy isn't one of them. His only chance will come if he's able to stalk a slow pace, set by suspect speed horses, while stalking from a good tactical spot.

It's true Scat Daddy's win in the Foutain Of Youth was setup by a strong pace---however, that track was awful kind to inside-speed, and he was wide on both turns and passed horses.

I think people were overly harsh on him after his debut--because many had precieved he had the rail over a rail-favoring track, and still looked blah. However, Pletcher seems to have had all his well thought of 3yo's a little short in there return races this year--and they've all seemed to improve markedly in subsuquent starts. This is opposite to his trend from years past.

In my opinion, only because of the mediocrity of this years 3yo crop, Scat Daddy can't be ruled out totally---but, I don't want any part of him from a betting standpoint.

Hmmmmmmmm let me see.......Spectacular Bid FOY/Florida Derby...Thunder Gulch FOY/Florida Derby...Scat Daddy FOY/Florida Derby...also Champagne and Sanford at 2, 2nd in Hopeful at 2. Sometimes consistancy prevails over brilliance. Scat Daddy will wear the roses, I just hope you all stay away and the believers will get a price come Derby Day..........

I have nothing against Scat Daddy, but watching several of his races, I've never said, "wow...I think he has a chance to win the kentucky derby".
I think he's turned out to be better than even Pletcher thought, otherwise he might not have sold his share in him last year.
Nice tactical speed which should keep in in decent position , but if he gets into trouble, I don't see him having the ability to overcome it like some others.
Forgive me if this if offbase, but I actually compare him a little bit to another Florida Derby winner, High Fly.
His best distance was probably 1-mile to 1-16 and maybe that's where Scat Daddy would excel as well.

And since Stormello is already said to be going to the derby, he(SD) will have his fave front runner to run at.

LOL:D

That's probably a fair analogy. I believe that High Fly ALSO finished 3rd in the Holy Bull (as Scat Daddy did), but I think that the similarities end there. Their running style is different.

Scat Daddy no Bid
 

You may be right about Scat Daddy winning the Derby. But Scat Daddy couldn't carry Spectacular Bid's feed bucket. The comparison is only in the races in they won.