Interesting Bluegrass Derby Facts & Figures

Just thought I would put a few interesting Statistics together for the past 5 Bluegrass Derbys

Winners

• 2005 – Anticosti in 2:01.2
• 2004 – Granhee in 2:01.0
• 2003 – I Seek U in 2:01.2
• 2002 – Tower Storm in 2:01.0
• 2001 – Buda With The Slew in 2:02.4

Weeks rest before running in the Derby:

• 6 weeks – Anticosti
• 4 weeks – other 4

No. of Starts as a 3 yo:

• 3 – Anticosti
• 4 – I Seek U & Tower Storm
• 5 – Granhee & Buda With The Slew

Distance of Last Prep Race:

• All raced over 9 furlongs (1 Grade 2 – I Seek U others Grade 1)

Position Finished Last Prep Race:

• All finished 1st

Time of Last Prep Race:

• under 1:48.0 – 1 Tower Storm (1:47.8)
• between 1:48.0 and 1:48.8 – 3 I Seek U (1:48.0) Granhee (1:48.2) Anticosti (1:48.4)
• 1:49.0 and over – 1 Buda With The Slew (1:49.2)

3 yo Lead Up Race Results:

• Undefeated – 1 Anticosti (3:3-0-0)
• Not out of the money – 3 I Seek U (4:3-1-0) Tower Storm (4:2-1-1) Granhee (5:1-3-1)
• Other – 1 Buda With The Slew (5:2-1-1 other start 7th)

More Lead Up Race Stats:

• Winner Corkscrew Gr1 – 2 Anticosti (last prep race) Buda With the Slew (2nd last prep race)
• Winner California Derby Gr1 / ITM Florida Derby Gr1 – 2 Granhee Tower Storm

I found these statistics to be quite interesting so thought I would share them with the BTB readers.

Oh one other stat I didn’t find quite so interesting was that no Derby winner had ever run in the Sand Castle Derby Gr2. The winner of the Sand Castle Derby ran in all 5 Bluegrass Derbys with the best result a 3rd in 2003 by Wolf of Queensland (the other 4 finished 5th 7th 11th and 11th). Now why didnt I find this particuarly interesting (more like disheartening) ….. because my entrant in this years Bluegrass Derby New Found Cyclone (from my ydbargain stable) was this years Sand Castle Derby winner – ouch!

On looking at these “facts and figures” you may like to know what pros and cons I found for my horse (hey we all like looking for any reason why we may have a chance or prepare our excuses for losing in advance)

Pros for New Found Cyclone:

• ITM all 3yo starts (5:3-1-1)
• 2nd Felipe Alou Gr2 followed by Gr2 win over 9f (same as I Seek U)

Cons for New Found Cyclone:

• Didn’t win last prep race
• Last prep race was 8.5f not 9f
• only 3 weeks rest since last prep race
• Sand Castle Derby factor

Based on the above I for one certainly hope that statistics do lie, hehehe….but truth be told I am just really happy to have a runner in this classic SIM race especially as I only bred 4 2yo colts in 2005 (and had 2 of them in the mix New Found Cyclone ranked #18 and Crafty Cyclone ranked #33 but was as high as #18 mid March).

Anyway good luck to all who have runners in the Derby and the Oaks this weekend.