Quote:
Originally Posted by parsixfarms
It's not just about Velazquez. One of the nagging questions about Eskendereya, IMO, is what do you make of his Breeders' Cup effort (and I say that as someone who liked him that day off his Pilgrim). That was the only race where he did not get a favorable trip and causes me to have at least some doubts about how he may handle the Derby experience. Was the performance a result of him not caring for the synthetic racing surface (even though he was bred to handle it and had run well in his turf debut), or was it that he did not handle racing in traffic that well? If he's going to be mid-pack in the Derby and the BC Juvenile is indicative of how he may handle adversity, then the Derby's a wide-open affair. Of course, he may have matured since the BC to the extent that this is a non-issue; can any of us know for certain?
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I think his BC is of little concern for the Derby aside from some of the external factors you brought up.
He was away poorly after getting knocked a bit sideways at the start, was checked out of contention on the first turn, and had to deal with a race flow that really was not in his favor. However, comparing 2YO Eskendereya with two prior starts to the Eskendereya that will be favored on May 1 is unfair.
Are a poor break, traffic, and a less than ideal pace setup issues that he may have to deal with? Sure and these are the basis for why many people choose to play against the favorite. However, I brought up Barbaro and Big Brown because they both had somewhat similar running styles to him and were ridden as if they were the best horses in the group and they completely capitalized.
Andy brought up when he was on with Steve last Monday that Eskendereya's Pilgrim is a race that some ought to consider when they bring up that he may have to come from farther off the pace. He raced in and among horses for some period of time and proved to be more than up to the task when the question was asked. I'd be concerned if I felt that he may have some underlying distance issues but one thing I know I'm confident about is that the longer they ask him to go the better he's going to run. That being said, should things not work out on May 1 I hope that he is pointed directly at the Belmont because I think it's a race for which he's tailor made.
NT