Interesting Developments

[Danzig]

seems a couple horses from out west last year didn't do so well on poly, ran ok on dirt, but still didn't make much of a dent in kentucky. gayego immediately leaps to mind. seems like some of the horses pyro beat up on last year in LA had success elsewhere. pyro of course fell on his face in ky, and hasn't done much since then to redeem himself-so that should rule out giving much weight to friesan fire. and yes, i know it's a new year. i also know he hasn't run past 1 1/16th, and is taking a seven week breather before the derby. i'm not so sure both those moves can be overcome, along with a 20 horse field.

as for what a horse is bred for-all you can really say for sure is that they're bred to run. some of course do it faster than others. other than that, until they try a surface, it's all conjecture. i wouldn't bet one red cent at the derby on pioneerofthenile fwiw. the 10f distance and large field are the only two new things these horses should face that day.



and as for how well armed finished in dubai, that's just hilarious. he's not much, and didn't face much. the fact he's the top rated dirt horse in the world is a riot.