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Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
I obviously disagree.
The strongest part of the pace was the sizzling 22.07 first quarter - of which Mythical Power was several length in front of Mine That Bird after - and was just as wide and actually under restraint going into the 1st turn.
He got shuffled into an education when MTB started moving past him down the backstretch - and Kelly Leak was following MTB's move.
To me, MP showed he had the most raw speed of any horse in that race - he got his education and a dirty face - and he finished up best of all in a collapsing race.
If you pretend that Kelly Leak wasn't in the race ... yeah ... Mine That Bird's race probably rates better than MP's .. but KL basically followed him - hooked widest - and put MTB away with ease on the turn. All 3 of them ran well .. but MTB was only 3rd best .. and perhaps arguably ran as well as MP..but that's a bit of a stretch.
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In my opinion, the running that Mine That Bird did in the middle two quarters of the race, to go from a mid-pack position to the lead around the far turn through solid fractions was the most impressive of any, save the winner.
Don't get me wrong, MTB having a bad trip there has nothing to do with him deserving a look in the Derby, he's just as impossible to me now as he was then.
However, Mythical Power waited patiently on the inside as this premature move was occurring and he left the rail only at the top of the stretch and subsequently needed nearly the whole stretch to get past MTB.
For what it's worth Valid Stripes, who was last by a distance at Sunland, came back to win the Texas Stallion Series stake on the LS Derby undercard and earned a Beyer of 83.
NT