NTAMM, further to your reply last night.

I agree with Beyer 100% on this quote:

This trouble doesn't mean that Ice Box is the most talented horse of this group or that he is likely to win the Preakness. The fast pace made this Derby a perfect set-up for stretch-runners like him.

Is that what you said though? You said that he wasn't even closing. He was closing. This wasn't a suck-up second for a horse with a perfect trip who never had a straw in his path. I won't argue that the race didn't set up for him because it certainly did. I also won't make Ice Box out to be something more than he is, which is a pace dependent, one run closer who is going to be a factor when the race flow is in his favor. However, I don't think you can refute the notion that given what he encountered, on this particular day, he was best.

Might that be the case going forward? Not necessarily, because we really were left with more questions than answers. Lookin at Lucky collected more excuses, Sidney's Candy stopped like he got shot, Devil May Care had a perfect trip according to her jockey and came up empty and all of this was done on a very sloppy track that had begun to dry.

NT

It's a matter of interpretation, a horse that is seemingly closing into a final 26.80 sec final 1/4 mile in a race that was collasping is more likely to be downgraded the way I see it, obcourse if he had a clear trip he probably gets up to beat SS; however It would be hard pressed to find any performance that I would say was Summer Bird like as last year. I'll have to take another look but nothing stood out to me this year except for Conveyance who will be a good horse in the future given that they can find the right races for him.

You have an uncanny way of trying to invoke your opinion on Summer Bird at every possible time.

NT

Who else would I say? He was the best example from last year. Nevermind who I like, who do you think was under the radar in this year's derby?

He's still probably trying to wrap his head around how Rachel could lose The La Troienne, so don't expect to see him for awhile.

It looks like the 2 previous 7 furlong races were rated as a minus 6 and a minus 8 on the variant, whereas the derby was a plus 7 beyer variant