and i have no doubt barring the hoof issue, he would have been a derby entrant. there's too much attention being paid to the trainers' comments now that the horse is no longer a potential starter.
of course key horses, especially the champ 2 yo, will be a separate betting interest as long as they're a potential starter.
sorry that i don't share the outrage. i just don't see a reason believe there's nefarious behavior here. all 23 individual entrants could end up out of the race. then what? will future bettors be saying there shouldn't be a future bet at all?

I think this example gives more proof that they should open it up to a lot more individual betting interests than 23. If you bet a future in the NFL or any other major sport, they have odds for every single team. Should be the same for horse racing instead of 23 horses hand picked by a few people.

If every triple crown nominated horse was available to wager on, I'd have zero problem with the secrecy around Shared Belief's connections to not point to the derby.

STANDINGS UPDATED: http://www.kentuckyderby.com/sites/k...0Standings.pdf

agree completely that they should have more than 23.
as to secrecy regarding shared belief....it was no secret he had a hoof issue. that's a caveat emptor moment right there.

I've read in a few places that Clement is pointing Tonalist to the Wood, if he continues to train well up to the race.

Shouldn't Edison and Gala Award be pointing towards dirt races? Bernardini is a dirt sire! I wonder how good they'd both be.

I would not call Bernardini a dirt sire, so far he has been a major disapointment. And Pletcher is pretty sharp, Im guessing if either could dirt they would have already run over the surface.

Pablo del Monte and Harry holiday to the spiral

And I would have to disagree, as Bernardini is very much a dirt sire in my book. Connections make mistakes all the time. Cigar biggest example. Imperative is a recent example of a better dirt horse sired by Bernardini.

But, I'm not saying Bernardinis are good overall, only that they're better on dirt and excellent on wet dirt.

since Edison and Gala Award are owned by the Coolmores, maybe they're telling Todd where to enter the horses? Eventhough they're both Bernardinis, and one would think their preferred surfaces would be dirt, the Coolmores probably are the ones calling the shots.

Regardless of what some people say, Bernardini has been a gigantic bust as a sire. And again, just because he is a Bernardini does not mean he will be better on dirt. There is pretty much 0 chance at all that Todd does not already know the horse cant run on dirt, or horses in this case.

I dispute that... I mean, you could definitely be right, but I don't think it's proven yet. How do we know until we see him run over the surface? I think Poker Player has awesome potential on dirt as well. Should I think because Catalano has only entered him on dirt and synth that he won't ever be a dirt horse?

Rusty Arnold tells ATR listeners that recent Gulfstream MDN winner Woodfield Springs (Raven's Pass) will go in Blue Grass @keeneland next..

I realize he had a dream trip last time, but I think Woodfield Springs can turn into a turf superstar. He should be pointed to that big new turf race at Belmont.

Looks like 12 for the Spiral..

Tamarando (Hollendorfer)
We Miss Artie (Pletcher)
Solitary Ranger (Catalano)
Asserting Bear (Baker)
Coastline (Casse)
Harry's Holiday (Maker)
Arctic Slope (McPeek)
Big Bazinga (Vassilieva)
All Tied Up (Pletcher)
Almost Famous (Byrne)
Smart Cover (Romans)
Tourist (Mott)

Good grief... that race isnt exactly murder's row. I could see Big Bazinga, We Miss Artie or Solitary Ranger running huge over that surface... and then being the longest shot on the board on Derby Day. If Tamarando is the real deal he needs to beat this bunch and in convincing fashion.

Smart Cover and Tourist are eligible to move up, but... wow... for all the weak preps thus far, this one is up there.

I'm not sure what you would call him then.

Bernardini Dirt stats.
1071 starts from 198 different horses 17% Winners 44% ITM 28 stakes wins.
236 starts on an off track 21% winners.

Bernardini's turf stats
361 starts from 128 different horses. 7% winners 28% ITM 2 stakes wins.
Around 3-4% first time turf.

Supposedly Catalano is entering BOTH Solitary Ranger and Poker Player in the Spiral. Maybe he hopes that if either/both have solid performances, but don't win, they can be wheeled back in 3 weeks for the Blue Grass?

Per Brisnet-

I would call him a giant bust as a sire.

Spiral from ‏@DRFMcGee:

Tamarando the 3-1 M/L fave, then We Miss Artie (4-1), Poker Player (5-1), Solitary Ranger (6-1), Almost Famous (6-1)...

1-Big Bazinga
2-Asserting Bear
3-Poker Player
4-Tamarando
5-Coastline
6-Smart Cover
7-All Tied Up
8-Solitary Ranger
9-Almost Famous
10-Harry’s Holiday
11-We Miss Artie
12-Arctic Slope

Sherman tells Steve Anderson that Cal Chrome a go for SA Derby..

Meanwhile, poor Bond Holder now in a FL clinic with laminitis...

Good news!!

jeez give this horse a break...its been one thing after another for this poor guy...

HORRIBLE just HORRIBLE

Mexicoma off trail pointing to the Peter pan followed by Belmont stakes

So, Mexicoma won't be ready for the Derby in 6 weeks but will be ready for the Peter Pan in 7?

Mexikoma had no qualifying points for the Derby, so he'd need to be ready for a prep and obviously will not.

Thanks. I thought he had points but I was mistaken.

i think he could be a contender in the belmont

So after his win in the Spiral, Wee Miss Artie will head into the Ky Derby with a stellar record of 0-3 on dirt with 14k earnings..

We Miss Artie has zero chance in the Kentucky Derby.

That's bold of you.

3/29/14 Florida Derby 1 1/8M - GP:

Cairo Prince (McLaughlin)
Wildcat Red (Garoffalo)
General a Rod (Maker)
Constitution (Pletcher)
Matador (Casse)
Spot (Zito)


3/29/14 Louisiana Derby 1 1/8M - FG:

Intense Holiday (Pletcher)
Albano (L. Jones)
Vicar's in Trouble (Maker)
Gold Hawk (Asmussen)
Quick Indian (M. Scherer)
Commanding Curve (Stewart)
Louies Flower (Calhoun)
In Trouble (Dutrow)


3/29/14 UAE Derby 1 3/16M (S) - MEY:

Asmar (Nass)
Cooptado (Watson)
Emirates Flyer (bin Suroor)
Paximadia (bin Suroor)
Figure of Speech (Appleby)
Long John (Appleby)
Safety Check (Appleby)
Giovanni Boldini (O’Brien)
Sir John Hawkins (O’Brien)
Jallota (de Kock)
King Rubi (Palussiere)
Sir Jack Layden (Brown)
Toast of New York (Osborne)

Heard yesterday that the connections of Harry's Holiday were going to pony up the $6k late nomination fee to get him into the Derby. Did they make the deadline?

Undoubtedly.. Time stands still when it comes to those late noms. :D

question-
I was at work, so didn't watch any race on the card except for the replay of the Spiral. Was the track speed-favoring yesterday?

Nobody closed in the Spiral. I mean Artie and Asserting Bear kinda did, but they were close-up... Just wondering if the kickback ate up the closers or? I get as far as horse's potential on dirt there wasn't much in this field, but so many in here were eligible to move up on synth and it just seemed like "first to the front, wins" (Solitary Ranger the exception).

Just wondering if the connections of a lot of these may draw a line through the race and try again in 3 weeks either in the Bluegrass? Poker Player was originally pointed there anyway?

I thought the Coolmores (Aiden O'Brien) were sending over Michaelmas too?

Honor Code now off the Derby Trail with slight tear in upper hind suspensory per Mike Welsch