He looks like he's been training well, Coach. Personally I don't think he's nearly as talented as a few in here but he might be fully cranked for this. Tagg says he might not run him if the weather's bad, though.

Playing the Maker's Mark / Bluegrass double tomorow from the road.

KDeville/ CCMan, Pyro for 4$
KDeville/ CCal, BTruck, Visionaire for 4$
Einstein,R+Ready, Thous. Words, OOControl, Shakis/ CCal, BTruck for 1$

Best of luck to those playing tomorrow!!

Yes.

I like Monba too.

I like Monba to beat the ambulance by at least a length.

I like that attitude. If the trainer wasn't Tap I'd be looking at 50-1 odds.

No.

This is polytrack. Normal handicapping methods go out the window on this sissy crap.

Just watch. Monba and Big Truck will run big on this garbage.

yeah dumb move by Zito not to snatch up Gomez, who is trying to land on a legit derby contender.

Great betting race, sure(the Bluegrass) and the exotics would be huge if Pyro gets blocked during the 9 horse blanket finish(which would be great for Pyro's Derby odds), but I need to win tomorrow

I'll be with Pyro, who's training well on the track, and against him by exacta boxing Pyro with Monba. Monba has a great record on synthetic surfaces, exiting a key race 1/2 length behind Colonel John, who returned to win the SA Derby

Pletcher's last best hope?

I can't go for the tri here because I would think even Kentucky Bear might screw the wager up

Bummed enough to think you should have gone to the AR derby for the $1M purse? Bummed enough to go back and realize the rules have been the same for some time and everyone knew the Bluegrass would be on Polytrack and could produce a middle of the road dirt/turf horse? Bummed enough to think that maybe your horse should have won a big race or two and there wouldn't be a problem?

Just thinking. Every year someone complains when everyone knows the rules and everyone knows the preps and the benefits and pitfalls of approaching the Derby certain ways.

But my point, is shouldn't you have ensured your horse was in a spot prior to the Blue Grass where the results wouldn't affect whether your horse made the gate or not?

The horses who have won, or have consistently run competitively in several graded stakes are already sure to get in.

If I recall correctly, 'Cal was horrific on dirt in his debut, no? Wouldn't be the first time a decent horse didn't run well first time out, surely won't be the last. After having nearly a year to get the requisite earnings with loads of stakes races with qualifying purses out there, I have a really hard time feeling sorry for someone whose horse comes up $10K short because the winner of a $750K Grade I race kept them out of the Derby.

It's not like these rules came out of nowhere three weeks ago...put your horse in a spot where you rely on his races to get in, instead of relying on someone else to run poorly to get in.

Synthetic and turf races shouldn't count for the Derby. Problem solved.

......really, keenland is a complete joke.

When was the last time a horse who barely snuck in on earnings really was a factor in the Derby anyway?

If a super kicker counts as being "a factor," and in a 20 horse field, I would say that qualifies, then last year.

Nah, I'd say a horse who actually had a shot of winning. Lumbering up for fourth shouldn't really count.