Big Truck
 

Horse has got into trouble before.
He has battled winning and losing.
Ran terrible in the slop at GP.

Today pinched back at the start.
Wide around the first turn, wide on the second turn
bumping down the stretch and the horse almost won.

This is not a lightly raced 3 year old. I was
very impressed with his effort considering the
difficulty today.

Do we dare mention him as a Derby Hopeful?

Yup I see no reason why not to label him a contender.

No, there wasnt a decent Derby contender in that group, and he isnt either.

Well said. I couldn't agree more although one more for Nick Zito in his 2008 embarassment of riches is OK by me.

NT

Thought the same thing, but apparently few agree. It's not like there are any awesome contenders at this point (besides War Pass and Pyro.)

It is still very early so its hard to tell.
All conjecture of course.

I just thought he overcame a whole lot
of trouble, ran an extra long race and would
have won at 10f. The effort was very solid.

Loved how he galloped out. Perhaps The Bid is right and we didn't see any decent Derby contenders in this field, but if I had to choose one, it would most likely be him.

I am not entirely sure what a decent Derby contender is.
Pyro was amazing with his last 1/4. War Pass obviously has
to be considered. Cowboy Cal lost today on the turf but looked
good. Pletcher says he goes to the Bluegrass but dirt... So I am
not sure about contenders right now.

Its very hard to say oh so and so (not mentioned above) will beat the crap
out of this horse at 10f. For example I personally think the bad cat looks
very nice but going 10f at the pace he runs... heck I dont know.

Makes two of us. He seems to either find trouble or another horse who's better than him that day.

I think Big Truck is a "contender" at this point. I saw him run in the Remsen last Fall and was impressed then when he got up to finish Third. I was at the Top of the stretch that day and he totally got stopped at the top of the lane and lost ALL momentum. I'm not saying he was better than Court Vision on that day but in my opinion he ran very well to be third. Check out the photo I took as Big truck got stopped.

http://billtheobaldphotography.smugm...892_zhW45-L-LB

Court Vision and Big Truck are about the same in regards to the Derby, hopeless.

big truck= dollar bill.

With the exception of War Pass and Pyro, which horse do you think has a legit shot at this point?

There is absolutley no way to know something like that. If those horses had been running a 10f race yesterday, the race would have looked completely different.
I do not think this horse remotely qualifies as a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender. Tagg is about as sharp as they come and I seriously doubt if he is thinking about that race with this horse.

As for the Dollar Bill comparison, that horse hit the board in five G1 stakes over the course of his career. If Big Truck manages that, I will be more than a little shocked. He looks like a one-turn/minor stakes horse to me.

Perhaps I am just crazy, but I thought the horse that actually won the race yesterday was more impressive than any of the horses that did not.
HE might be a Kentucky Derby contender. I certainly wouldn't have him ranked in my top ten or fifteen, because I don't think he beat very much, but I would have him rated higher than Big Truck.

I dunno... agree with Dahoss that perhaps I am just grasping onto whatever contender I can. This year's crop is rather boring so far (War Pass excluded.)

I agree, but somebody will probably emerge in the next couple of weeks. They usually do.
Perhaps Dennis of Cork - or someone else - will generate some excitement starting tomorrow.

Mentioned this in the Tampa thread in Selections, but may be something to consider - Z Humor looked absolutely horrible in the Paddock - completely washed out, so much so that I even contemplated leaving him off my late P3 ticket - I saw Stuttes, Tagg and Mott in the paddock, but Assmussen must have had bigger fish to fry that day, or I just didn't see him - I simply can't imagine that if he was here, the horse wouldn't have looked so bad

Now this is going to be an odd
thing for me to do but you are
perfectly correct. I just watched
the head on. I had only watched
the normal replay.

No it was not a bad trip but
it was definitely not a good trip.
Backstretch he got shoved out very
wide which is not apparent regular view.

The main thing that I see is that this is
an improvement over his previous races.

So he would not be a contender because
there are only 3 horses that are? Or because
which other horses besides Pyro, War Pass, bad cat
are clearly better?

He led the entire race on grass and was beaten
late. Did not look bad at all to me. But as I said
that is grass and he is going to the Blue Grass
supposedly which will not tell us much.

I really dont care about gallop outs, all they really
show is that a horse is not completely wasted.

So I got the general opinion. Big Truck is mostly
a joke. Got that checked.

Did you watch his race at GP?

Rbe...Z Humor is Mott's horse...Asmusssen has Z Fortune for Zayat. Like you said the horse looked horrible, totally washed out in the paddock and post parade. Have to see what happens next time out...he already has the graded earnings from the Delta Jackpot but I really don't see him as much of a contender in the classics.

My bad :o :o Thanks

I liked Fierce Wind coming in and like him even more now. The rest... not so much. Smooth Air I'll give a mulligan, didn't really get a chance to run until late.

Too many Z's running around...hope they don't start getting like all the "Warren's so and so's" you see running in California...it's tough to keep up with them all.

So his GP race was better than his effort yesterday?

Thank you captain obvious for the update on War Pass
and Pyro. Dont dare go out on a limb. Its dangerous.

Point is these are 3 year olds. It is February. So who do
you see in an upcoming race (besidesthecat) that you are keeping a close
eye on? Because you and I both know at this stage Pyro
and War Pass still have a ways to go to make it to the gate.
If you were so sure about these two you would have put
your money in the round one pool. Good going getting Pyro
in that first pool. What did you get him at?

He seemed to be struggling a bit down the stretch but the other horses around him seemed to lose form and he straightened out. I had a hard time deciphering exactly what was going on. He looks like a horse that gets
out of the gate well enough, and carries enough early speed to get
good position.

I think that after War Pass, El Gato Malo, Colonel John, and Pyro, just about anyone else is a contender. Not to win though. But I wouldn't feel confident taking any horse out of the rest and placing them above any others. Not yet. Nothing Big Truck did excited me yesterday. The winner was the most impressive of that field, IMO. Combined with his last two and maybe we've got something. I'm also looking forward to seeing Court Vision again.

Ok now.
Colonel John and Court Vision.
I did not think that much about Colonel John.
Court Vision I had.

I am looking foward to seeing if El Gato Malo
can keep that pace going longer. If
so, it would be great to see War Pass and this horse
both make it to May. They could obliterate each other.

Its just fun to conjecture especially this year.
There is no harm in being wrong while typing.
And no I would not expect you to come on this
site to bet being that Steve has not quite got
that set up with offshore sites.

Another for Colonel John.

Yes He comes from way off the pace when the 1st half goes in 44 in a mile race.

I think he has all kinds of tactical speed. I think he can go out early
and get a nice little spot and then put pressure on when they turn for
home. Possibly setting it up for the real late runners. All supposition.

And yes I have watched all three. I think this is a horse that
might drive like a car. He does what is asked.

Why do anything different in that particular race?
This horse appears to do what is asked.