5/10 (BEL): Peter Pan; Bold Ruler
 

8th (4:43) Bold Ruler H. (G3)

6 Furlongs | Open | 3 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $100,000

1 Man of Danger Velazquez J R 115 L
2 Callmetony Prado E S 114 L
3 Lucky Island (ARG) Garcia Alan 115 L
4 Forefathers Desormeaux K J 115 L
5 Executive Fleet Lopez C C 115 L
6 Gold and Roses Maragh R 114 L
7 Council Member Castellano J J 115 L



9th (5:15) Peter Pan S. (G2)

1 1/8 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $200,000

1 Casino Drive Desormeaux K J 116
2 Tomcito Velasquez C 120 L
3 Mint Lane Coa E M 116 L
4 Deputyville Espinoza J L 116 L
1A Spark Candle Chavez J F 116 Blk-On
5 Golden Spikes Prado E S 116 L
6 Ready's Echo Velazquez J R 116 L
7 Cosmic Castellano J J 116 L
8 Fast Talking Garcia Alan 116 L

A-Coupled: Casino Drive and Spark Candle

Horrendous.

Not entirely.. Cosmic & Lieutenant Ron are real horses.

Actually, especially by 2008 3YO standards, it's not.

Lieutenant Ron has only run twice but has been pretty spectacular in both starts and it will be more than interesting to see him stretch out. He is on a very short list of 3YOs, along with Harlem Rocker and Biker Boy, who MIGHT be able to resurrect this division as the year progresses.

You also have the US debut of the Japanese horse Casino Drive who is a half to Jazil and Rags to Riches. Now, I am highly dubious of this horse, and hope he is overbet, but it has been proven ( Deep Impact? ) that an Asian horse can draw a great deal of positive interest in racing. I don't know about you, but I feel like this seems like a particularly good time for that.

Plus, you have Ready's Echo, a horse that I believe is, if anything, a closing sprinter. However, he sparked a lot of discussion after his visually impressive debut ( where he finished second ) and hasn't run that badly in his two races this year.

You also have a green, but potentially OK, Phipps runner in Cosmic. No, his last race was hardly impressive against what should have been inferior competition, but he wouldn't be the first Shug horse to improve over time.

No, it's not an accomplished based star-studded cast, but considering what we've seen from this division so far this year, it's a pretty interesting race....at least right now.

Will you get 9-5 or better on Cosmic?

A lot better.

Tomshito will probably be the favorite.

Andy do you actually believe Lieutenant Ron will be better going a route of ground? I sure don't.

Lieutenant Ron is a cinch to be the favorite. Will he be better going a route? Unlikely....but if he is then he might be the best 3YO in the country. I don't have a big opinion on him, as he's only run twice, and once was in the mud, but he's been pretty impressive so far.

I can't believe Tomcito would even be second or third choice....but one can dream. He's not much horse....to say the least.

I haven't seen Cosmic or Lt. Ron run, but I have really liked what I've seen from Ready's Echo. His 3-yo debut was impressive (he did get a dream trip, however).
He was entered in an allowance race in Keenland last month, and looked to be much the best. He lost by about a 1/2 length to Limestone Edge due to the short-stretch and "early" finish line they had in place on certain races.
ON TVG Ken Rudolph actaully called Ready's Echo the easy winner because he was thrown off by the early finish line as well (it was fairly comical when Matt Carothers had to correct him).

Kent eased up on Limestone at the end....was in hand and in control. Ready's Echo is a very nice horse. If he can overcome his gate breaking issues, he should make lots of noise this week.

This is better field than the Preakness if you throw out Big Brown and if Harlem Rocker doesn't run.

Casino Drive will obviously need the race. It is just a prep for the Belmont. His mother has done quite well in that race. :)

There are some shooters in here that might be better than all the derby horses with the exception of the winner and the filly.

I'm praying nightly we get a nice, quality wave of late-season 3-year-olds, but time is running out.

Sounds like he got HOSED worse that the MAGIC in Detroit the other night.

I wonder if that PUNK, David Stern, is involved in this somehow.

Tomshito wont hit the board again

FYI, all mile and a sixteenth races @ KEE are run with that short finish (so they have a little bit of a runup to the first turn.)

Note the 2nd place finisher of that race came back to win the 3YO graded turf stake on Friday @ CD (Tizdejavu) at 21-1.

am i the only one who's tired of seeing tomcito's name in print?

now watch the damn horse win.




nahhhh

I wouldn't worry about that horse winning.

He couldn't even get close to Smooth Air.

Not a chance here but I wouldn't put a clunk up third in the Belmont past him in this terrible crop.

ah, yes....smooth air. :cool:

Tomcito will surely be overbet.

How about a Jazil-esque win in the Belmont? He might be the only one still going at the end of it.

Denis of Cork seems a likely Jazil candidate. I don't think Tomcito is fast enough to be Jazil, even in this slow crop.

Gr. III Bold Ruler Saturday too... Prospective field to be drawn today...


Executive Fleet
Council Member
Forefathers
Lucky Island
Man of Danger
Callmetony
Rondo
Ravalo
Gold and Roses
Gold Trippi.

not bad at all for a grade 3!

What happened to Lt. Ron? Hope there's still enough pace for Ready's Echo to be a factor.

Fast Talking is the key for a pace that will set-up for closers.

Hasn't Rondo done enough? I figure he will make a great stallion in Washington State.

Have you looked at the pps?

This is Golden Spikes' best shot at a Grade 2. He'll never get another setup like this.

And, he'll never win a Grade 2.

I'm starting to think Golden Spikes is a bum, too. I keep chasing him because of the pedigree and connections but I think it's time to give it up. . .

This is a horrendous race. I'm standing by that.

I'll need a lot more than the 5/2 you're probably going to get on Golden Spikes in order to get excited. His trip was so perfect in the Illinois Derby and he still had no punch whatsoever in the stretch. That was the third consecutive time he went the wrong way in the stretch and all three of those races happened to be at nine furlongs.

If you are going to try to beat the Japanese entry and Golden Spikes (which is advisable) the value will be there on everyone else and there are a couple who are interesting.

NT

To be fair - I think the Illinois Derby has been proven to be a toss-out. . . But I agree that there's some value in the race and it isn't from any of the foreigners or GS. . .

I don't necessarily agree that the Ill Derby is a toss. Recapturetheglory ran a very strong race in the Illinois Derby, capitalizing on a great pace setup and he came back and ran a good race in the Derby. Z Humor ran like the one-paced plodder that he is in both the Ill and Ky Derbies. Denis was wide and well behind a slow pace at Hawthorne which is a death sentence.

It was a toss for D of C but a horse like Golden Spikes who could do no better than a distant second where he sputtered through the lane, I condsider it telling. If anything about it is a toss IMO it's GS's 95 Beyer.

NT

I certainly wouldn't bother calling this a Grade II, or a good group, but this field is actually quite a bit more respectable than last year's when Sightseeing ran down Prom Shoes. I don't have the PPs but I do think that since then those two monsters have combined for 1 stakes win.

NT

It got a lot worse after Lieutenant Ron got injured. I think we all understand that this is a bad bunch of 3YOs and this race is no exception without Lieutenant Ron.

I was going to say the same thing.
That field was truly horrendous.

Prom shoes just won a stake at Oaklawn.. Fifth Season 100k

Morning Line
 

The Japanese entry at 2-1 may be the underlay of the millenium. . . Cosmic at 8-1 might be the value in here. . .