W/E BSF's: Blue Grass 92; Arky 103 (!?)
 

Maker's Mark Mile: KIP DEVILLE 105 (Thorn Song/Einstein 103)
Blue Grass: MONBA 92
Jenny Wiley:
Commonwealth:
Arkansas Derby: GAYEGO 103
Comely:

A 92...

Pathetic.

I'll be waiting for the natural dirt result(Beyer fig) of Gayego's Ark. Derby. This may be a gauge of Colonel Jon and Bob BlackJack's possible Beyers if they had run on dirt, as these synthetic track preps all get lower Beyer speed figs, thus throwing out speed par history for these Derby contenders

A 105 Beyer in a route was attained by the majority, but not all, of past Derby winners going into the race. Only Big Brown has done that this year. Pyro and War Pas did it last year on a sloppy track, but Pyro now fails to win or be within two lengths in a mile and an eighth graded stakes. War Pass did hang on in the slow Wood Memorial to be a close second

pyro has had good dirt form. the bluegrass may rightly be a complete toss for him. i don't understand why asmussen went to keeneland, rather than oaklawn, with his #1 horse. especially with oaklawn considered as a very close cousin to the churchill surface.
but i'm not complaining, hard to really get behind a steve a. horse for me, but i won't discount a horse just because of it.
based on gayego and sierra sunsets runs, you'd have to think colonel john would need a long look. BUT, not all polys convert well to dirt. but a lot sure have at oaklawn!

The Arkansas Derby's figure isn't going to get anyone's heart racing either... Likely 95-96 or so.

And Mike, adjust your thinking away from the masses... The Wood Memorial wasn't 'slow'.

no, it wasn't slow. the track however.....

When I saw that Assmussen was at Oaklawn instead of Keeneland (to get his picture took with the winner of the prestigious Bluegrass stakes) I knew Pyro was a no go.

I thought the Wood Memorial was a terrible race.
but the only race that looked respectable was the Santa Anita Derby.

:rolleyes:

You weren't impressed with the Florida Derby at all? :eek:

Why does the speed figure matter
 

What do the they call a doctor who finishes last in his class.... A DOCTOR.

I just want a competitive race. I didn't bet on Giacomo, but I enjoyed that derb stretch run with 5 horses having a chance in midstretch, much more than smarty Jones and Lion Heart going 1-2 all the way around or Barbaro romping.

I gave the Blue Grass a little higher, a 95, with a pace figure of 104. The Arkansas Derby I came up with 94 and 114 pace figure.

Big Brown was impressive for a 3/2 favorite but the Florida Derby was not competitve.

I thought they went pretty quick early but no one except Z Fortune came running and Gayego had plenty left.

Who do you like better Cowboy Cal or Z Fortune? I like Z Fortune. I feel he was compromised by post position.

post position wasn't great, but i think z fortune had ample opportunity to pass gayego, and couldn't get it done.

And you still dont see that horses that train and run on Synthetics have more gas in the tank? I think this is the reason Pyro was at Keenland.

The first 4 finishers a Oaklawn were from synthetic tracks,,,

And the SA Derby was? Honestly, this whole group has been pretty mundane. Yawn.

Agree, Deb. He hung a bit IMO.

z fortune is from synthetic? since when? he's done his running all spring at fair grounds and oaklawn. my pal charlie last ran at fairgrounds.

and what about adriano? his one start on dirt he was up the track.

there are no hard and fast rules for this stuff. some horses can run on both, some can't. some can go poly to dirt but not many seem to be able to go from a good run on dirt to a good run back on poly-yankee bravo is a good example of that.
then there's tiago-hasn't won a whole bunch in cali has he? but then they put him on dirt, he wins a grade two.

i think pyro was at keeneland because z fortune needed the money, and a placing in a million dollar race gets him in the gate next month. pyro didn't need the money, and the bc classic later his year is on the awt. why not run him there, see what he can do?

Tentative Arkansas Derby Beyer a 103 for Gayego and 102 for Z Fortune...

Looks outta-whack high to me..

Borel looked high to me