Derby Chances

[Kasept]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Each horse is its own entity ... but The Factor feels kind of like a healtier Lion Heart more than any type of horse I can think of off the top of my head. The comparison to Silver Charm is more obvious.

The main thing about The Factor is that he at least proved the comparison to a Conveyance to be a bad one. Conveyance gave up a lot of late ground to bums like Cardiff Giant and Dublin was running over the top of him at Oaklawn.

The Factor basically finished his final 1/16th slightly faster than Harve De Grace and was going about as fast late as Blind Luck. He also ran plenty faster early on than those two horses.

Dougie,

Good comparison with Lion Heart. I was suggesting Sidney's Candy in terms of ability to attend pace successfully without rancor. I completely agree about the finish. I got the feeling that once they reached about midstretch, he realized he was being asked to go further and re-engaged. Thought he finished better than many are giving him credit for and galloped out the extra 110 yards energetically. Was looking at Miswaki's broodmare sire production, and there's plenty of reasons to take a positive view of his staying ability. And I imagine that with another start and some a.m. work, he can get kinder. I think those already anticipating him as a runoff are going to be surprised.