Current Derby Field

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by Danzig

but i think the competition _______ will face next wknd is far tougher than what they had in _______.

Insert every horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first blank and their previous race locations in the second blank.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by PatCummings

Insert every horse in the Kentucky Derby for the first blank and their previous race locations in the second blank.

i guess my point was that some of the horses here have faced tougher competition in the weeks leading up to next saturday compared to what desert party and regal ransom have faced-other than each other that is. for a horse who supposedly is distance challenged, RR certainly has held his own thus far vs his stablemate. how much of his win the other day was the track, how much was himself? everyone is giving desert party a pass in that loss because of the bias. how pronounced was that bias?

desert party seems the better suited for the derby, but i just don't know that the approach the sheikh keeps trying to take (derby via dubai) is the way to go. i guess we'll see.

i do wonder tho if some who are dismissing desert party are doing so due to ownership.

[PatCummings]

Originally Posted by Danzig

everyone is giving desert party a pass in that loss because of the bias. how pronounced was that bias?

There were 21 days of racing at Nad al Sheba in the 2008/2009 season. On Dubai World Cup night, there were three route races. All were won by horses who contested the pace and were on it, or literally, just off it (Two Step Salsa, Regal Ransom, Well Armed). No other day of racing produced similar results with horses winning consistently from the same position.

Of course, there were four days of intermittent rain leading up to the races with the track being sealed for the duration, save training hours.