Rank the Derby contenders
 

Top 5, Top 10, the whole darn field. Post whatever Derby rankings you want.

1. Street Sense
2. Any Given Saturday
3. Curlin
4. Nobiz Like Shobiz
5. Tiago
6. Great Hunter
7. Sam P
8. Circular Quay
9. Scat Daddy
10. Zanjero
11. Dominican
12. Hard Spun
13. Stormello
14. Liquidity
15. Cowtown Cat
16. Xchanger
17. Sedgefield
18. Storm in May
19. Bwana Bull
20. Cobalt Blue
21. Teuflesberg

Better change yours so that Cowtown Cat is 16th, dammit! :D

I tried to work it out so he'd be 16 but couldn't quite justify it with the sorry collection of horses behind him.

I'll post mine contingent upon the post position draw. I do think that has an impact, unless you just want my ranking of how the horses are at this point talent wise?

You guys think Tiago is a better CLOSER option than CQ?

Doesn't matter if people want to wait for the post position draw. I think it is pretty overrated though as there is a likelihood that a horse will run into traffic problems in a 20 horse field regardless of which post position they draw. It is highly doubtful that my opinions will change based on the post positions.

At 10 furlongs, yes. Don't like the fact that CQ is off the layoff and hasn't gone more than 8.5. I also think he has a knack for finding trouble which isn't going to be good in a 20 horse field. Even without those factors he wouldn't be higher than 5th on my list.

Personally, I do...

Me too! :)

1,2 (tie) Curlin, Street Sense
3 AGS
4 Nobiz
5 CQ

I think Curlin and SS are the most likely to win the race. I also think they will be among the worst bets to win.

--Dunbar

As of now... this is the list I'm working with will promote or demote as necessary :) Which ones not in the top 6 will get into the super?

Curlin
Dominican
Street Sense
Sam P
Circular Quay
Hard Spun
Tiago
Any Given Saturday
Nobiz Like Shobiz
Great Hunter
Scat Daddy
Zanjero
Stormello
Liquidity
Bwana Bull
Xchanger
Cowtown Cat
Teuflesberg
Storm in May
Cobalt Blue
Sedgefield

OK, here goes: :eek:

1.) Scat Daddy
2.) Street Sense
3.) Any Given Saturday
4.) Hard Spun
5.) Zanjero
6.) Tiago
7.) Cowtown Cat
8.) Nobiz Like Shobiz
9.) Sam P.
10.) Circular Quay
11.) Teuflesberg
12.) Great Hunter
13.) Curlin
14.) Storm In May
15.) Liquidity
16.) Bwana Bull
17.) Dominican
18.) Sedgefield
19.) Xchanger
20.) Cobalt Blue

Hard Spun
Any Given Saturday
Street Sense
Nobiz Like Shobiz
Curlin
Circular Quay
Dominican
Scat Daddy
Cowtown Cat
Tiago

Caj, that's taking a stand!!

I know. I'm sure I'll be eating crow with the rest of them come Sunday morning. :o

Mine will be up Wednesday evening :D

1)Hard Spun
2)Street Sense
3)Any Given Saturday
4)Nobiz Like Shobiz
5)Scat Daddy
6)Dominican
7)Circular Quay
8)Great Hunter
9)Curlin
10)Stormello

1.) Street Sense
2.) Scat Daddy
3.) Hard Spun
4.) Any Given Sunday
5.) Tiago
6.) Nobiz Like Shobiz
7.) Curlin
8.) Domincan
9.) Great Hunter
10.) Cowtown Cat
11.) Sam P.
12.) Circular Quay
13.) Teuflesberg
14.) Storm In May
15.) Liquidity
16.) Bwana Bull
17.) Sedgefield
18.) Xchanger
19.) Cobalt Blue
20.) Stormello

Easy Exacta :)

1. Street Sense
2. Nobiz Like Shobiz
3. Hard Spun
4. Tiago
5. Curlin
6. Dominican
7. Circular Quay
8. Scat Daddy
9. Great Hunter
10. Stormello
11. Any Given Saturday
12. Cowtown Cat
13. Liquidity
14. Zanjero
15. Sam P
16. Sedgefield
17. Storm in May
18. Bwana Bull
19. Cobalt Blue
20. Teuflesberg

This is, of course, my feelings before the draw on Wednesday.

Tiago, Scat Daddy, Great Hunter, Stormello, Cowtown Cat, Zanjero, Storm in May, Cobalt Blue, Teuflesberg. Those are the only horses that have 3 syllables so they are the only ones that can win. Not sure about Bwana Bull cause I cant pronounce it.

That would be three syllables as well. BWaaaa-Naaaa Bull. There you go! :)

Thanks! Pretty sorry list of 3 syllable names... would be a huge tri if any of those made it up.

Scat Daddy, Great Hunter, Cowtown Car, Storm In May, Cobalt Blue and Bwana Bull are all 2 words, not 1 single word. So they wouldn't be 3 syllable names. So I guess your ticket is down to Tiago, Stormello, Zanjero, and Teuflesberg.

Good luck on that ticket.

Now, I don't look at it that way. I think it is three syllables, since it's the horse's name. But you say potatoe and I say po tah to :)

Bwana Bull is 3 syllables as well.

I agree, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, all three syllables. Actually, I say tomato you say to mah to

And the winner is...
 

1. Cowtown Cat
2. Street Sense
3. Hard Spun
4. No Biz
5. Dominican

The rest....forgetaboutit!

Spyder

The last 6 winners of the Derby have had 3 syllable names.

SIlver Charm, Real Quiet, War Emblem, Monarchos, all three syllables.

its looking good for S Diddy

I will use him in my picks, I just pray he runs a little faster this race. But if you are judging heart, he's got a big one.

"A LIST"


Hard Spun
Street Sense
Any Given Saturday
Sam P ( value )
Circular Quay
Great Hunter

"B LIST"

Cowtown Cat
Scat Daddy
Zanjero
Dominican
Nobiz Like Shobiz
Tiago


"C" LIST

Curlin
Stormello
Liquidity
Bwana Bull



"OFF ALL TICKETS LIST"

Teuflesberg
Sedgefield
Storm in May
Imawildandcrazyguy

Horses who really have a chance at winning the Derby
 

all the pletcher horses-sam P + Nobiz, thats it

1. Curlin
2. Circular Quay

Only two with a chance to win.

3. Scat Daddy
4. Hard Spun

Only other two with a chance to be third.

5. Nobiz Like Shobiz

Only other horse that matters.

Without the post postitions, I'll stick with what I've got...in order 1-6.
Nobiz
Dominican
Curlin
Street sense
Circular quay
Scat Daddy

All the rest....also ran

anyone going to bet a cowtown cat/bwana bull ex??? lol

street sense
hard spun
everyone else

So is this 3 syllable angle a legitimate angle to use?? I might think about that.

just read this, check it out!



courier-journal.com > Sports > Horse Racing > Kentucky Derby

Friday, April 27, 2007 E-mail this | Print page




Eric Crawford
Trainers run for the rose-colored glasses this week

Gas may be pushing $3 a gallon, but on the backside at Churchill Downs, everything is perfect. It could be raining, with wind whisking riders off horses and blowing boxes of doughnuts into feedbags, but the backside would still be the sunny side of Churchill with Derby Day approaching.

From this point on, to hear trainers talk, every step a Derby colt takes will be perfect, every move he makes a tiny note in a carefully orchestrated symphony of speed headed confidently toward crescendo on the first Saturday in May.



Derby contenders will head to the track for their final workouts in the coming days. A prediction (and my only prediction of the week likely to be worth anything): The works will be perfect. All of them.

Every trainer will be publicly pleased. The mint julep may be the Derby drink of choice, but until the race is run, optimism is the most popular chaser.

D. Wayne Lukas explained it best a couple of years ago.

"We all lie," he said. "We all come out here and stand behind the sawhorse and smile and tell you we love the horse and all that stuff. But you have a job to do. Sometimes you may not think the horse has much of a chance, but you have owners excited to be here, and your job is to get the horse to run the best race you can and see what happens."

That sunny feeling
An example. Dan Hendricks trained last year's morning-line favorite Brother Derek. He acknowledged some initial worries about having the No. 18 post but quickly moved back to the sunny side.

"If they go fast, we'll fall in behind," he said. "If not, we'll be right near the front."

Easy enough, just a question of strategy. Except for this. After finishing in a dead heat for fourth, Hendricks said, "We thought the 20-horse field would interfere with our strategic abilities and it did."

Not knowing that little tidbit, meanwhile, interfered with a bunch of people's win tickets.

Remember Old Trieste working six furlongs in 1:09 back in 1998? It was the fastest Derby Week work ever recorded and just two-fifths of a second off the track record. I've seen slower test laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Just about everybody on the backside agreed, it was too fast, and probably took too much out of the colt.

But trainer Mike Puype, after voicing the dreaded "little concern," then added, "I know this horse is peaking. He's fresh and lightly raced, and it's just a matter of keeping him where he is."

He made the pace for a mile in the Derby, then stayed where he was, finishing 10th.

No place for candor
You get the feeling that a horse could jump the rail, crash the fence, run through an infield tent and kick out a restroom door and the trainer comment would be, "He really handled the surface. He just likes to check out his surroundings. You'd rather see that now than on race day. Now we'll just walk the shedrow with him and keep him happy. He's ready."

The truth is out there, wagering public. Just don't expect to hear it until after the race. It's how the game is played -- and not just in this sport, to be fair. With the way every work and detail is overanalyzed during Derby Week, trainers know that candor is tantamount to controversy.

That's why every horse in the next week is going to "take to the track," and every work is going to be "just right, just what we were looking for." And then there's my favorite, the phrase used to describe a horse so fit that he's not even out of breath after a workout: "He wouldn't blow out a candle."

Ahhh, but the flame of hope can't burn forever. The post-race explanations are far more enlightening -- if only to show us just how much in the dark we really are.

Reach Eric Crawford at (502) 582-4372 or ecrawford@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read his blog and previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/crawford.

Well put of course. The trainer speak has always been nonsense.

Not 100% sure about that. I personally saw the maiden breaker by CQ and he was flat rolling! The SA Derby for Tiago seemed like a real late push that just got up. Give the little guy more credit! :D