Hammersly: Country Star should target Derby
 

Country Star is proven going long and has already handled different surfaces. A daughter of Empire Maker, she's bred to prefer going even longer. In a year with so many question marks surrounding the top males, could it be they're ripe for the plucking? Yes it could, particularly when you're talking about a special filly and a man who knows how to train with a specific race in mind...

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EMaker couldn't win with the same trainer why would the filly? Granted the colts are a suspect group and she appears to terriffic but it's still a bit far fetched too me..

She hasn't run on real dirt yet, has she? She might not be as good on real dirt.

You're right, she is yet to run on dirt. The bottom of her pedigree indicates it should not be a problem. I can not imagine Frankel sending this filly anywhere but the Oaks after the Ashland.

it's only a matter of time
 

Practically every year about this time all you hear is how the fillies are faster than the colts.

the girls mature faster and therefore are faster
until the boys catch up

The smart thing to do would be - instead of running against the equally mature girls, run against the boys like Absolutely Cindy did in the John Battaglia at Turfway

and if she's a front runner the boys would probably prefer to stay behind her.
;)

well if Empire Maker handled dirt...I see no reason why Country Star wouldn't

i think there are 2-3 fillies that you could see in the derby... especially since a couple are going to the arkansas derby which looks super weak.

All it takes is one whiff of that jiff....

On a related note Eight Belles has been nominated to the Arkansas Derby

Rick Porter must agree. Oaklawn reported this week that he plans on making "Eight Belles" Triple Crown eligible.:o

This would be a good year to take a shot with a filly. The boys look weak.

I may actually like Country Star for the Derby if she had run this year or had run her prep on dirt. I suppose we should root against the one Derby prep horse. That is really a scary trend.

What a horrible decision. Ive got her in the Oaks future at 22-1.

I thought last fall that CS looked like a possible Derby filly but as of yet she has not raced at 3. If someone was talking about starting a colt in a couple of weeks and going to the Derby we'd be telling the trainer to lay off the Jack Daniels.

Hammersly wrote this article with tongue firmly planted in cheek. It was total repudiation of the three year old crop we've seen thus far. It's like some wise lady who recently posed the question, "What would happen if they had a Kentucky Derby and nobody won?"

Six weeks out from Derby day I'm still picking nobody to win. Hopefully that will change,