Making the Derby Field Week 2525
The most compelling thing that attracts millions of sport fans to the turnstiles, radios and TV sets week in and week out is the uncertainty of the outcome in any sports event. The possibility that your favorite team, despite all odds, can defy the experts and make sports history. Who would have thought that the 1980 US Olympic hockey team would have defeated the Russian National team in the medal round, or that the 42-1 underdog Buster Douglas would leave the heavily favored Mike Tyson lying helpless on the mat, or that the 1969 Jets would defeat the then touted “greatest football team in history”Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III, or when the legendary racehorse Man O’ War lost the only race in his career- to a 100-to-1 long shot named Upset at Stanford Memorial in 1919. The loss was so shocking that the term “upset” became used any time an underdog beat a favored opponent.
Such was the case this week when ten of the top ranked three year olds failed to hit the board in their final prep toward the Bluegrass Stakes. While this may not go down as one of the greatest upsets of all time, collectively it qualifies as one of the most shocking days of racing in Sim history.
The conspiracy theorists can back off for a while as super stables took the hardest hit when the number one ranked RHIBUS finished an uncharacteristically 9th in the Grade II Wooden Indian Stakes in New York. Starting to make a move along the backstretch, he seemed to flatten out at the ¾ marker easing up at the wire. He did not appear to be a “sharp” horse on Saturday and jockey Lawton may have been instructed to ease up if he didn’t think he had a chance, but no matter how you slice it, you can bet his connections were not pleased with his finish four weeks before the Bluegrass. To compound the loss by RHIBUS, the highly touted SAN PELLIGRINO turned in his 2nd consecutive poor performance when he finished a disappointing 7th in the Grade I Green Monkey Derby. Adding to the stunning results was the again disheartening effort by HEAVEN’S DOOR who finished far back in the Grade I California Derby, making him an unlikely starter in Kentucky. On a brighter note VIRTUOSO has been working well, has held on to his number 4 ranking for this week, while DARK PRINCES turned in a solid performance to finish 2nd in the Easy Goer Memorial.
The speedsters LOCKITINEDDIE, TOXICSUPERFREAKOUT, and K’S RUMOR HAS IT all turned in marginal efforts on Saturday, all failing to hit the board. LOCKITINEDDIE, chasing TALE OF AUROR throughout, tired in the stretch to finish 6th, six and one half lengths behind the leader. TOXICSUPERFREAKOUT, in his first start passed 1 1/16, tired badly to finish 10th, perhaps casting doubt about his ability to get the Derby distance. K’S RUMOR HAS IT was taken back off the pace this time around, racing evenly throughout, failing to fire into the stretch. Expect a return to his front running style come Derby Day.
ALASTOR, the bang up winner of the Sleepy Fan had a useful outing in the California Derby finishing 4th after an expected bounce off his 107 SP figure in the Sleepy Fan. Ranked 18th on the depth charts, a 3rd place finish would have gone a long way in securing a spot in the Derby draw. Another start before the Bluegrass might put a lot of pressure on the horse to perform well in the Bluegrass, so you might see this one in the Middle Jewel if things don’t fall his way from here on out.
CRAFTY CYCLONE, WYLDE CAT, and KISARAN have all but taken themselves out of the Bluegrass picture by failing to gain any points in their respective starts on Saturday. It is likely all three will point their efforts toward the Middle Jewel.
I’m not sure if this quite qualifies as an upset, but after a brilliant training tactic by nextbonus, HALF A WORLD AWAY cast his hat back into the Derby picture with a come from behind rally to finish 2nd in the Grade I California Derby. In an effort to get the two year old Eclipse Champion to finish up strongly passed a mile, trainer nextbonus instructed his jockey to take the number two ranked 3yo back to the pack in the early going, a tactic that found the son of Belong to Me finishing up from farther back than he has ever raced before. As if super stables didn’t have enough to worry about, HAWA is back and just may be better than ever.
PEACENICK sent notice to all Derby competitors that he is a force to be reckoned with when he drew off to win the Grade II Wooden Indian. Breaking from the outside, he settled in early, unleashing a furious drive at the top of the stretch, and then finding another gear at the ¾ pole sprinting home much the best.
LOVELY SHEEP turned in a solid effort in the Gotti Stakes finishing 3rd with a 102 SP figure, and is still holding a spot on the Bluegrass riding the coat tails of his win in the Grade I Sparkling Wine in New York back in October of last year. His previous three Graded efforts have been less than stellar, but he has proven he can win in this company and will be the fresh horse come the first Saturday in May.
Breaking into the top 25 this week by virtue of his outstanding performance in the California Derby is babyfarms SO SLEW ME. The 3yo son of Belong to Me leapfrogged into the number six ranking virtue of his win. You can make a strong case for this horse, as he has already proven that he is a better 3yo than he was a 2yo, and appears to be getting better with each start.
UNAMAZINGNESS has come from out of the clouds winning three Graded Stakes in a row, the latest coming in the Grade I Green Monkey Derby. The 3yo son of Unbridled’s Song from the mardigras stable is reminiscent of I SEEK U, who also was lightly raced and didn’t win his first Graded Stakes until he was a 3yo. Could we have another Triple Crown winner in the making?
CLAN OF THE CAT made his way back into the top 25 for trainer slowracers when he turned in a solid effort to finish 2nd in the Grade I Green Monkey Derby. Ranked 14th, he stands a good chance of making the Derby field, but has yet to race passed 1 1/16, and while he looks like he could handle the Derby distance, we will only know for sure come Derby day.
What this week has proven is that the 8th running of the Bluegrass Derby is a wide-open affair. Will RHIBUS shake off the affects of the Wooden Indian? Will HALF A WORLD AWAY be the third 2yo Eclipse Award Champion to win the Bluegrass? Or is there another Upset in the making? It’s what attracts us all to Sport of Kings, the uncertainty of the outcome.