Opening mile of the Kentucky Derby

[Calzone Lord]

Check out Snow Chief's race in '86 ... he's the horse in the bright pink silks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khVKgCT1p7w

He's 3-wide the entire way around the 1st turn -- and right on a 22 1/5 opening quarter set by Groovy. He makes a 4-wide sweep down the backstretch and easily puts away all the speed going into the far turn.

He ends up finishing 11th beaten 19 lengths without ever having the slightest bit of trouble.



He won the Preakness by 4 lengths over Derby winner Ferdinand next out. What a pile of sh!t ride he got in the Derby ... and Badger Land's ride was pretty brutal as well.

Broad Brush -- the horse who led after a mile in that Derby -- won the PA Derby that year despite bolting on the far turn. Here's the video of that... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mynfjuiEvyk

That '86 Derby was a pretty cool race. 22 1/5 opening quarter that year -- but on an even slower racetrack.

Maybe if the Preakness was race 8 on a Thursday in SoCal.

Can't see Harrington ever being in the mix legitimately for a TC race.

[asudevil]

Vincent Bracciale! He was a colossal d'bag. I grew up around Pimlico and Laurel and saw it first hand.

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by asudevil

Vincent Bracciale! He was a colossal d'bag. I grew up around Pimlico and Laurel and saw it first hand.

Jersey Shore type Italian?

Ferdinand -- as good of a horse as he ultimately was -- was defeated in all of his next eight route races after winning the Kentucky Derby. He did win the Malibu at 7 furlongs though.

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

Maybe if the Preakness was race 8 on a Thursday in SoCal.

Can't see Harrington ever being in the mix legitimately for a TC race.

I'm not a Harrington fan either. But the horse always fires for him. I still prefer Bodemeister a lot over CC.

That track has been kinder on wides since Super Saver. Especially on big days...although certainly more so on Oaks day than Derby day this year.

[pweizer]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

I'm not a Harrington fan either. But the horse always fires for him. I still prefer Bodemeister a lot over CC.

That track has been kinder on wides since Super Saver. Especially on big days...although certainly more so on Oaks day than Derby day this year.

Excellent stuff as always. Trackus also shows that CC ran farther than anyone in the race (and 70 feet more than Bode).

My main concen about Bode is having 3 big races in five weeks but I do think these are the two to focus on in the Preakness.

Paul

[Travis Stone]

My concern with Creative Cause - and I've had it all along - is that he's not exactly a powerful finisher. If anything, he sort of hangs. I think he finished better w/blinkers, and I don't think they're thinking about putting them back on anytime soon. That said, you have to consider him a top contender off his Derby performance and he figures to offer some value too.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

My concern with Creative Cause - and I've had it all along - is that he's not exactly a powerful finisher. If anything, he sort of hangs. I think he finished better w/blinkers, and I don't think they're thinking about putting them back on anytime soon. That said, you have to consider him a top contender off his Derby performance and he figures to offer some value too.

When you factor in the wide trip he endured in the Derby plus some of his personal internal fractions, the hang is understandable. He undoubtedly has to take a step forward but the Preakness is rapidly becoming an amazingly uninteresting betting race.

[pweizer]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

When you factor in the wide trip he endured in the Derby plus some of his personal internal fractions, the hang is understandable. He undoubtedly has to take a step forward but the Preakness is rapidly becoming an amazingly uninteresting betting race.

Totally agree. Beyond the Derby top two and CC, what else is there?

Paul

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Check out Snow Chief's race in '86 ... he's the horse in the bright pink silks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khVKgCT1p7w

He's 3-wide the entire way around the 1st turn -- and right on a 22 1/5 opening quarter set by Groovy. He makes a 4-wide sweep down the backstretch and easily puts away all the speed going into the far turn.

He ends up finishing 11th beaten 19 lengths without ever having the slightest bit of trouble.



He won the Preakness by 4 lengths over Derby winner Ferdinand next out. What a pile of sh!t ride he got in the Derby ... and Badger Land's ride was pretty brutal as well.


That '86 Derby was a pretty cool race. 22 1/5 opening quarter that year -- but on an even slower racetrack.

I had Snow Chief in the future book at pretty big odds.

You should find a way to see the video for Snow Chief vs Melair vs Southern Halo.

[alysheba4]

melair, that was a freak

[keithting]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Check out Snow Chief's race in '86 ... he's the horse in the bright pink silks.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khVKgCT1p7w

He's 3-wide the entire way around the 1st turn -- and right on a 22 1/5 opening quarter set by Groovy. He makes a 4-wide sweep down the backstretch and easily puts away all the speed going into the far turn.

He ends up finishing 11th beaten 19 lengths without ever having the slightest bit of trouble.



He won the Preakness by 4 lengths over Derby winner Ferdinand next out. What a pile of sh!t ride he got in the Derby ... and Badger Land's ride was pretty brutal as well.

Broad Brush -- the horse who led after a mile in that Derby -- won the PA Derby that year despite bolting on the far turn. Here's the video of that... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mynfjuiEvyk

That '86 Derby was a pretty cool race. 22 1/5 opening quarter that year -- but on an even slower racetrack.

This was an interesting derby and it it always the one that I think about when there a hot early pace..Snow Chief was a really nice horse taken in by Groovy, the rabbit here...Badger Land made a big move, but folded...Broad Brush was a decent horse, but the off-track really moved him up...The race fell into Bill Shoemaker and Ferdinand's hands.. He had the perfect rail trip..Shoemaker was not the same rider at this point in his career, but he knew what to do with a golden trip....

[Gate Dancer]

I loved Mogambo in this race.............thanks for the memories.....

[Calzone Lord]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

Whittingham wasn't a big bute or lasix guy I guess.




I've heard conspiracy stuff about how Sunday Silence was juiced up before the Kentucky Derby ... but his gigantic Santa Anita Derby win earned a MUCH better figure than his Derby win.

Sunday Silence was all over the track in the Derby. He was bumping into horses out of the gate. P. Val had him shifting in and out going into the 1st turn trying to race ride Easy Goer. In the stretch, Sunday Silence was all over the place...veering sharply in and out.

Easy Goer obviously hated the mud at Churchill. He ran the two worst races of his life over it outside of his career debut.

Two great horses in an ugly stagger fest of a race where neither had anything close to its best stuff.

[Thunder Gulch]

Creative Cause is a whole lot of horse, but if you bet him, you're betting him to quit looking around and focus on the task at hand. He'll have a better chance of it with fewer horses, but I still think the Belmont would suit him better. I don't think his hanging is due to physical fatigue as much as it's due to what's going through his head.

I'm a big believer in Bode after the Derby. It's asking a lot for him to fire back again, and I get that he doesn't have a huge foundation to build on. Those fractions along with the final effort may just push him over the top. However, as much as the possibility of that is there, he seems to have less chasing him in this one. They knew they had to give him his head on the lead last time, but now they have a shot to slow him down a few ticks and finish.

[JJP]

Calzone Lord-

In 1988, no doubt Risen Star was widest. I guess maybe he was too far behind Winning Colors after a mile to have qualified for your list. But to any trip handicapper, he was much the best in the Derby. And he verified it two weeks later at Pimlico.

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by JJP

Calzone Lord-

In 1988, no doubt Risen Star was widest. I guess maybe he was too far behind Winning Colors after a mile to have qualified for your list. But to any trip handicapper, he was much the best in the Derby. And he verified it two weeks later at Pimlico.

The Preakness may have been quite a bit different that year had Woody Stephens not instructed the jock on Forty Niner to take her out at all costs.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by Calzone Lord

I've heard conspiracy stuff about how Sunday Silence was juiced up before the Kentucky Derby ... but his gigantic Santa Anita Derby win earned a MUCH better figure than his Derby win.

Sunday Silence was all over the track in the Derby. He was bumping into horses out of the gate. P. Val had him shifting in and out going into the 1st turn trying to race ride Easy Goer. In the stretch, Sunday Silence was all over the place...veering sharply in and out.

Easy Goer obviously hated the mud at Churchill. He ran the two worst races of his life over it outside of his career debut.

Two great horses in an ugly stagger fest of a race where neither had anything close to its best stuff.

I remember one of the last Thoroughbred Record magazines doing an article on the '89 Derby and commenting how the first 12 home were only a few lengths apart.

Specifically, Hawkster (5th) and Flying Continental (12th), who were completely obliterated by Sunday Silence in the Santa Anita Derby, made up several lengths on him at Churchill (in fact, Hawkster's race was somewhat reminiscent of Went The Day Well's).

Interestingly, Hawkster, notoriously hot-blooded, was on Lasix for the first time in the Kentucky Derby, and reportedly was well-behaved in the post parade. Trainer Ron McAnally was quoted as saying that "Sometimes Lasix will have a calming effect on horses."

[Calzone Lord]

Here's an interesting stat regarding the opening 1/4 mile of the Kentucky Derby.

In the history of the race, 70 horses have run an opening 1/4 mile faster than 22.80 seconds in the Ky Derby.

Only one of those 70 went on to cross the finish line 1st -- that being Bold Forbes in 1976.

10 beaten post time favorites among the 70 horses who went faster than 22.80 in the opening quarter.