Why all the hate for the 3 yr olds???

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Are you saying this because the horses you are picking are not running up to your expectations? Or are you just unhappy with the entire crop?

The last I knew, the Derby is still being run on May 3. There is a lot of time between now and then. Out of the 21 years I've been following this sport, I've heard these same complaints in probably 7 out of the last 10 years. People neeed to freaking relax and let the events unfold as they may. Maybe it will turn out to be a lously crop, maybe it won't, but either way it will still be a lot of fun on May 3rd.

I think everybody is comparing this year to last, last year was the best in twenty years. War Pass had little more than a public workout today, would have been nice if he ran in the FOY. Lot's of races until the first Saturday in May. Bottom line.....are we cashing tickets in these preps. Not today for myself.

[pick4]

Originally Posted by Hickory Hill Hoff

I think everybody is comparing this year to last, last year was the best in twenty years. War Pass had little more than a public workout today, would have been nice if he ran in the FOY. Lot's of races until the first Saturday in May. Bottom line.....are we cashing tickets in these preps. Not today for myself.

Comparing this year to last year is a huge trap. I know it happens all the time but as it's a bad way of looking at these races. When looking at the movies who are candidates for the Oscars do they compare against prior years or do they judge each movie with the candidates in the select few.

You're absolutely right about War Pass and even though he might have distance limitation questions to answer, those will be answered in the next ten weeks. In my opinion making rash judgements off of one prep race especially ten weeks from Derby Day is not wise.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

lets face it.. war pass though not tested with 18 horses is just much better than most..now that bieng said..there is alot to be done and to be seen in this years crop ..he could be injured or just tail off abit have a bad trip ect. the reality to me is that the tc is just about a perfect recipe for an unatainable goal..pyro is a good horse and there is new ones getting tuned up for that day,,the derby,, the one real goal of every trainer.. the tc is just an afterthought..the crop as a whole cant really be judged as bad or good . a few standouts to this point..but damn its early.. giacamo.. nuff said..

[wac]

I hope some of you are right and that things will get better as we get further along. It is true that there is a long way till KD134 and derby day will still be fun Lord willing. I hope that the rest of the preps are a little more satisfying.
For those of you that backed "man" congrats and good pick.

[ELA]

Does this year's crop look "weak" so to speak? Relatively speaking, yeah, I would kind of agree with that. I think the "weakness" is exacerbated by a variety of things, but I also think it's still a bit early.

Between now and the next wave of preps -- a colt, on or off the radar, could turn the corner and step up. They all mature differently and nobody is going to get their colt to peak sooner than the Derby (at least not on purpose).

Once again, Zito is looking strong. There is a lot of depth in that barn. He certainly knows how to get horses to the big dance and he does it with a lot less firepower than most of the other big names (Pletcher, Baffert, etc.).

Anyway, I guess we will soon see how weak this crop really is.

Eric

[JJP]

I'm going to hold off on ripping the FOY because I'm suspicious of the teletimer at GP. That 25 and change opening Q looks very suspicious.

[fpsoxfan]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

lets face it.. war pass though not tested with 18 horses is just much better than most..now that bieng said..there is alot to be done and to be seen in this years crop ..he could be injured or just tail off abit have a bad trip ect. the reality to me is that the tc is just about a perfect recipe for an unatainable goal..pyro is a good horse and there is new ones getting tuned up for that day,,the derby,, the one real goal of every trainer.. the tc is just an afterthought..the crop as a whole cant really be judged as bad or good . a few standouts to this point..but damn its early.. giacamo.. nuff said..

Very well said Hooves. These are very young animals who are growing and maturing every day. I just went through each derby starting in 1988 and it's amazing to see the different trends. There were years where the derby hype did not live up to how the derby was run (Ex. 1992 - Arazi) and vica-versca (War Emblem - 2002 Overlooked and nearly goes on the win the Triple Crown) During that time span we had a less than full starting gate(Ex. 1997
Silver Charm - 13 starters) Now granted, the number of starters does not determine how good or bad a year is. In general, I think I've seen leaner years than this. Let's just sit back and enjoy the remaining prep races and see what happens.

[Hickory Hill Hoff]

Originally Posted by fpsoxfan

Very well said Hooves. These are very young animals who are growing and maturing every day. I just went through each derby starting in 1988 and it's amazing to see the different trends. There were years where the derby hype did not live up to how the derby was run (Ex. 1992 - Arazi) and vica-versca (War Emblem - 2002 Overlooked and nearly goes on the win the Triple Crown) During that time span we had a less than full starting gate(Ex. 1997
Silver Charm - 13 starters) Now granted, the number of starters does not determine how good or bad a year is. In general, I think I've seen leaner years than this. Let's just sit back and enjoy the remaining prep races and see what happens.

Rough going back to work today with a week off and all that