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#1
05-03-2009, 11:25 PM
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Borels' instructions were to go up and sit just off the pace. He got smashed five strides out of the gate, so that wrecked that plan, and he winged it from there.
Winged pretty good, he did 
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"Have the clean racing people run any ads explaining that giving a horse a Starbucks and a chocolate poppyseed muffin for breakfast would likely result in a ten year suspension for the trainer?" - Dr. Andrew Roberts 
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#2
05-04-2009, 08:24 AM
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He was also a little kid six months ago. I'm sure there were some guys who just ate up Michael Jordan in the eighth grade.
For what it's worth, Mike Watchmaker points out in Bet With the Best that, "Of the 12 Kentucky Derby winners from 1990 through 2001, only one even ran in the Juvenile," and "Otherwise, recent Derby winners have all, for one reason or another, missed the BC Juvenile."
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#3
05-04-2009, 08:44 AM
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It probably was a combination of factors, which might or might not include him hating New Mexico's climate, loving the mud, starting to figure it out again (he was a late foal and turns 3 for real in a week), clicking with a new jockey, several of the other horses stumbling or getting banged up or getting freaked by the crowd or hating the mud themselves. I do think there are horses that love attention (my uncle's old horse would stop in his tracks if he saw a camera and "pose" until the camera was put away), but I don't know that a horse would make the connection with the crowd and the race. In the end, they're still prey animals and a lot of noise usually means something bad to a prey animal.
In the stretch, he looked to be flying by the other horses because they were slowing down so noticeably. For whatever combination of reasons- weather, racing luck, a good ride, feeling ready to race, etc., he put it all together on Saturday.
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Gentlemen! We're burning daylight! Riders up! -Bill Murray
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