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Originally Posted by parsixfarms
Wasn't it a Grade I for about one or two years a few years ago?
I know this is probably a minority opinion, but the Arkansas Derby doesn't deserve Grade I status. Yes, it has had an impressive list of winners in the past few years, but the overall quality of its fields has been rather mediocre, and that's what the grade should reflect.
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it hasn't been a gr 1 in years (the oaklawn handicap on the other hand was a gr 1 until a few years ago, the dubai world cup has gutted that race), but has generally produced more top horses over the last few years than some other more respected preps-the blue grass for example. it's one of only two spring preps with a million dollar purse, the other being the gr 1 fla derby.
and i would think pretty much every race has a couple of good horses, followed by mediocrity, or less-for example, big browns fla derby this year.
the grading supposedly reflects what happens to top finishers in a race in subsequent starts. lawyer ron, afleet alex, smarty, curlin--good reasons to give it gr 1. also, several preps leading to the ark derby have received graded status-but it seems a bit odd that the last prep before the ark is a gr 2 as well-the winner of that race is to get the same black type as the presumed tougher race?
the only gr 1 at oaklawn now is the apple blossom.