Your Personal Derby Dozen

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by smartbid09

Today's Holy Bull officially starts the 2011 Kentucky Derby season. For most horse fans this is the most exciting time of the year. And with what seems to be a fairly talented crop of 3-year-old's there is a lot to look forward to.

I think us DerbyTrailers are very astute horseman and I thought it would be fun to list our own personal Derby Dozen.

Hasken's Derby Dozen comes out this week and it should be fun to see how are Derby Dozen's stack up against his. (Although I know Haskin has said his Derby Dozen list will inlude some pretty obscure horses this year.)

If you feel like participating I'd love to see what horses you'd place on your own Derby Dozen list.

Here's mine:

1. Uncle Mo - Distance may be a problem for this talented son of Indian Charlie. But if Uncle Mo is able to move forward from his 2-year-old form and improve with distance than the sky's the limit for this talented 3-year-old. With comparisons to such all time greats as Seattle Slew who knows this colt just may be one of the ones.

2. To Honor and Serve - With a great pedigree and a string of impressive performances To Honor and Serve easily finds his way onto the second spot in most Derby Dozen lists. I need to see him run against a more talented field though in order to get a better feel for his talents.

3. Comma To The Top - The West Coasts top derby contender. Comma To The Top has a great 2-year-old campaign behind him and seemed very impressive in his last start. I

4. The Factor - Bob Baffert is very high on this colt. If The Factor can rate who knows what kind of horse he will be. Extremely fast, The Factor already broke a track record at the beautiful Santa Anita Race Course. I will have to see more from this colt before I can draw any conclusions but I can not over look a derby hopeful trained by Bob Baffert.

5. Dialed In - This Nick Zito trained son of Mineshaft looked very impressive today in winning the Holy Bull stakes. In only his second start Dialed In made up a huge amount of ground and won under a hand ride.

6. Boys at Tosconova - Don't like that he missed the Holy Bull Stakes but Dutrow is high on him and the talent is obvious. His distance is a question but perhaps he'll be able to overcome that. If it weren't for Uncle Mo this colt would undoubtedly be the talk of the racing world.

7. Brethren - This half brother to Super Saver has been refered to as the second best three-year-old in Todd Pletchers barn by Todd Pletcher himself. Can't wait to see more from him.

8. Washington’s Rules - This horse is getting some major buzz. Haskin likes him and his trainer McPeek is very high on him.

9 Stay Thirsty - I wasn't very impressed with his performance in last years Breeders Cup Juvenile, but I am still willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he will improve in form as a three-year-old. I love his pedigree and I want to see him race as a three-year-old before I toss him off my derby dozen list.

10 Casper’s Touch - I'll give Steve Haskin the benefit of the doubt. If this horse is good enough to find it's way onto Haskin's early Derby Dozen I'll give him a spot on mine.

11. Rouge Romance

12. Astrology

Pletcher is quoted as saying that about Bretheren? I don't recall that - do you have a link?

I think your list is pretty fair. I would have Dialed In probably under THAS - who is still my Derby horse (I'll put him tied with Uncle Mo because I really think Uncle Mo will go on). Washington Rules is, I think, being highly overrated by some and I'm not sure how far the Factor wants to go (then again, everytime I question whether a horse wants to run that far, he inevitably has no problems). Stay Thirsty was not done any favors by Todd when he ran him in the BC off of the Hopeful - a sprint, 2 months before the race. I know for all of last year that ST was considered the 2nd best in that barn, surprisingly so given they thought he'd be a much better 3 year old. Everyone has a horse they think of as a dark horse on their Derby lists and he's mine.

Casper's Touch seems to be the wise guy horse and I've never been an Astrology fan even after he beat THAS.

Good stuff - I need to put together my list now. This is a very talented crop.....and the big guns from last year haven't even run yet.