i guess my point was that some of the horses here have faced tougher competition in the weeks leading up to next saturday compared to what desert party and regal ransom have faced-other than each other that is. for a horse who supposedly is distance challenged, RR certainly has held his own thus far vs his stablemate. how much of his win the other day was the track, how much was himself? everyone is giving desert party a pass in that loss because of the bias. how pronounced was that bias?

desert party seems the better suited for the derby, but i just don't know that the approach the sheikh keeps trying to take (derby via dubai) is the way to go. i guess we'll see.

i do wonder tho if some who are dismissing desert party are doing so due to ownership.

All you people should go easy on Tector. He's a wop too, just like Druggie.

Me too! :D

There were 21 days of racing at Nad al Sheba in the 2008/2009 season. On Dubai World Cup night, there were three route races. All were won by horses who contested the pace and were on it, or literally, just off it (Two Step Salsa, Regal Ransom, Well Armed). No other day of racing produced similar results with horses winning consistently from the same position.

Of course, there were four days of intermittent rain leading up to the races with the track being sealed for the duration, save training hours.

Don't worry, when the Dubai wonders run up the track, I intend to abuse these people unmercifully.

I have no problem with anyone taking a 30-1 flyer on any horse. But making them key horses--please. Since when does ANYONE make a key horse, at a relatively low price, out of a horse trying to overcome a historical 0-fer? If these horses had accomplished something truly spectacular on the way here, OK, I'd listen. But I've seen nothing of the kind.

And since when do I have to be polite about people who served the same role for murderous Middle Eastern fanatics that the Swiss served for the Nazis? Just as the Nazis allowed the Swiss to survive and prosper, so have the maniacs and autocrats of the Middle East allowed the UAE to do the same--because it serves their larger purposes.

Are people here that frigging naive? The Sheik had the "genius" to be born with an ocean of oil under his ass. Wow, I am impressed.

Sycophants to power and money are everywhere, I guess.

That's more like it!

FTFY ;)

EDIT: Stupid HTML fail...

lol
i take issue with a racial slur, so i'm a sycophant? i'm no fan of the middle east powers that be, but i'm not going to call them rag/towel heads either.

Me too.

Yagotaproblemwitthat?
:p

What? I did not see your derby pick here. Do you have one? Or are you just a sniffleing coward too?
I think I Want Revenge will win.

He is the most likely winner, especially with QR's issues. Whether he will provide any value is doubtful, but you can create some underneath in this race.

If racing has taught me anything of late, it is: don't try to beat the most accomplished cheaters.

fuhgettaboutit, paisan. LOL...

Are the connections of Flat Out still trying to get in?

This is the final call to "Big Drama"....

It's still not too late to change your mind.

:)

How about the Woody Stephens or the Kings Bishop. That would be right up his alley

#21 now, next on the list... In the meantime, Atomic Rain has been put on the van from Monmouth to Louisville.

No, he got hurt this week and is out of consideration.

1 Regal Ransom bin Suroor, Saeed -- Garcia, A.
2 Pioneerof the Nile Baffert, Bob -- Gomez
3 I Want Revenge Mullins, Jeff -- Talamo
4 Papa Clem Stute, Gary -- Bejarano
5 Desert Party bin Suroor, Saeed -- Dominguez, R

6 General Quarters McCarthy, Tom -- Leparoux
7 Friesan Fire Jones, J. Larry -- Saez
8 Musket Man Ryan, Derek -- Coa
9 Hold Me Back Mott, Bill -- Desormeaux
10 West Side Bernie Breen, Kelly -- Elliott

11 Chocolate Candy Hollendorfer, Jerry -- Smith
12 Win Willy Robertson, McLean -- Berry, C.
13 Advice Pletcher, Todd -- Douglas, R.
14 Dunkirk Pletcher, Todd -- Prado
15 Mine That Bird Woolley, Bennie -- Borel

16 Flying Private Lukas, D. W. -- Abarado
17 Mr. Hot Stuff Harty, Eoin -- J. Velasquez
18 Summer Bird Ice, Tim -- Rosier
19 Join in the Dance Pletcher, Todd -- DeCarlo, Chris
20 Atomic Rain Breen, Kelly -- Bravo, Joe
------------------------------------------------------------
21 Flat Out Dickey, Scooter -- Garcia, J.
__________________

If the race was limited to 14, does anyone really think the winner this year would have missed the race?

Oh, I don't know. I bet you the #17 horse, Colonel Tiago's full brother, will garner some support.

FYI...

Rene Douglas = Advice
Chris DeCarlo = Join in the Dance
Joe Bravo = Atomic Rain

Wonder if Nakatani is regretting his decision...

Am I just pushing for a reason to like West Side Bernie or does anyone other than me see some similarities to WSB and 2005 Derby runner up Closing Argument?

Closing Argument had an idea of how to win races...WSB does not.

He's not the worst bet in the world at better than 40-1 but I can't imagine how he'll have a real impact on the finish.

NT

I like him underneath quite a bit. He's a grinder without much brilliance but those are the types that often fill out the trifecta/superfecta.

He's no Terrain.

::sadface::

Take the Points will now run, according to the twitter on Kentuckyderby.com.

D. Wayne Pletcher.

you are pushing for a reason to like West Side Bernie...

CA was never more than 3-4 lengths back ( usually 1-2 )

The only similarity is they both finished second in the DeD Jackpot

That is old information from early today. Darren Rogers will get that updated... NOT running. Targeting Baltimore.

Cool thx. Thought it was Yes-No-Yes trying to follow the twitters...

remind me to never get a twitter account

I heart West Side Bernie and think he could have an impact on the race somehow or another.

Absolutely agree with your take. You can signify a number of angles to come up with a $0 ROI in this race. It is one of the most wide-open Derby years that I can remember in my young career of betting horses.

I like hometown favorite, Win Willy (Rebel Stakes winner, 4th Arkansas Derby). He won a cheap MCL race up here at Canterbury and then shipped down to Oaklawn where he has ran very well. I wish they would have taken Berry of this mount do to his lack of experience in the big time, but Mac Robertson is a straight shooter who gives people what they earned. This horse was almost sold for $3 Million following his defeat of Old Fashioned in the Rebel and if someone thinks that highly of this one I will respect him on Saturday. His breeding is okay (Monarchos by a Carson City mare).

He is a big time closer and if he can get the pace to run at, you never know... Look back at some of his races, he hasn't had the best trip in any of them and has ran pretty well up to this race. Odds are he won't get a perfect trip in this race wither with 19 other horses to contend with.

I just really have a feeling the pace scenario is going cause the front runners to break down as they hit the top of the stretch opening the door for an off the pace closer like Win Willy. Could be Dunkirk, Could be Flying Private.

Right now my most realistic candidate would be Dunkirk, but I am always a homer so I will use him and Win Willy to hit the board in all my supers. If I can get that to happen it could be a very big day.

Everyone throwing out the Dubai horses just because of where they prepped are not looking close enough. I would be more worried with the horses with the majority of their earnings over synthetic as tosses. It has been the case over the past decade with the California shippers. Now with Kentucky switching two courses over to Poly it allows you to limit your options even more.

Who knows, I contradict myself every 10 minutes when I look at the entrants. I will bet Dunkirk and Win Willy and hope lightning strikes.

Best of luck to everyone

who is in now that Willie is out?

Zito: Nowhere to Hide