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#1
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Venue = April 10
Very disappointing to see only 6 in the Arkansas derby
Probably will be Oaklawn Park + *** Bonus of the Lexington Which almost looks better than the Arkansas derby Will decide later on and post the final decision tonight .............. Or by tomorrow morning A = OAKLAWN WITH LEXINGTON BONUS B = ***** OR ~ DO U PREFER KEENELAND WITH ARKANSAS DERBY AS BONUS? ***** *********** OPINIONS AND THOUGHTS WELCOMED =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Last edited by RUFFIAN : 04-07-2021 at 06:23 PM. |
#2
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I don't think that you could go wrong with either choice. Both of the cards appear to be very strong. I'm sure that whatever you choose most of us will be interested in the Arkansas Derby because of its KY Derby implications. At this point Concert Tour will be one of the top contenders. Unfortunately it isn't as great a race for our contest purposes. Many of us would likely play it in much the same way in the points contest. The Count Fleet should be very interesting with a rematch of Whitmore and CZ Rocket. They put on a real show in the Hot Springs S. and should do so again. I just wish that the Racing Secretary didn't get carried away and write a 13 race card. I know that they all do that on big race days to maximize the handle, but sometimes it seems excessive.
The Keeneland card also looks to be of quality although the Lexington does not have the same Derby importance. It only yields 20 points to the winner compared to 100 to the winner of the Arkansas Derby. In fact the Jenny Wiley is probably the feature race on the card. As I said before you are in the wonderful position of having two very nice choices. I am going to take a somewhat contrarian position by suggesting that having a so-called bonus race doesn't always add to the quality or enjoyability of our contest. For a major race most of us will pay attention to it whether or not it is part of our contest. By the way congrats on your very strong points win last Saturday. |
#3
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13 races a few too many at Oaklawn. I don't think those first 4 races would be missed. Start with Race 5 and go through Race 13 and add the Lexington. That would be 10 races.
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#4
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(JOLY = “In fact the Jenny Wiley is probably the feature race on the card.”
A $300K Race And ONLY 6 Bother to Enter i Just Don’t Get It! |
#5
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Sadly that seems to occur with many major stakes races during the course of the year. The lower level Md Cl will often have a larger field than a graded stakes. I don't think that the expense of nomination, entry and starting fees for some stakes races is much of a factor, although such fees do add up. Perhaps trainers of high level horses don't enter them as frequently as they do lower level claimers so there are too many stakes races for too few horses who want to run in them. I suspect the fact that horses have more value as stallions or broodmares after their racing careers are over has much to do with this. Instead of trying to win lots of purses they are trying to find races where they won't be beaten and thereby build up a winning resume for the auction ring.
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#6
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I don't know what the cause is, but I can't ever remember a 6 horse Arkansas Derby. I wonder whether it might have something to do with changing their schedule for the Racing Festival of the South to occur on 3 weekends and not 2. It used to be that the Arkansas Derby, Oaklawn Handicap and Count Fleet and Apple Blossom happened on the same weekend and now the Apple Blossom and Oaklawn will not be run this coming weekend, but will be run next weekend.
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