More “Derby Lock” fun awaits a full field of 13 3yo colts and a filly at Arkansas this Saturday, when the million-dollar Arkansas Juvenile goes off as the 14th race on the card. Big money, Derby spot on the line, 9 furlongs to go!<\/p>\n
So… Who’s gonna be the one that gets a guaranteed entry to try the Sim’s top 3yo’s in front of the Twin Spires on the First Saturday in May? Well, here’s a look at the field…<\/p>\n
TIME FOR BUDA<\/b> caught all but one last time in the Grade 1 Sand Castle Derby just two weeks ago and takes another swing at the Derby Lock here. It may seem like juju<\/i> is asking a lot of a 3yo to return to the track so quickly, but that last run was after the same 2-week gap and it was his best speed rating to date. Can the Dansili colt run another big one here? If he does, can he run another big one on the Big Day? Gets a top jock and 7\/1 odds; should be tough.<\/p>\n
GRAYINGTON<\/b> is an Eddington colt slated at 26\/1. He’s tried the Graded waters nine times without any sort of success for graywolf3<\/i>, but he keeps on swingin’ for the fences. He looks overmatched here, coming back in just two weeks after running last in the G1 All Saints Derby. <\/p>\n
THE ROAD IS ROUGH<\/b> goes off at 18\/1 for wfstables6<\/i>. The Quality Road colt comes off a nice deep-closer win in a minor stakes and shoots for the moon here. He’ll have to raise his game quite a bit to get the job done vs. this bunch.<\/p>\n
EARACHE<\/b> unleashed a devastating charge to win the Grade 3 Rebel Yell Stakes here last time out, earning the 5th-highest speed 2-turn speed figure by a 3yo thus far in 2012. A repeat of that performance by this Giant’s Causeway colt could be enough to get the win here, but this field is deeper and more proven than what the crackpot<\/i> trainee has faced so far in his 5-race career. Gets 7\/1 odds, and sold rider T Maguire stays aboard for this.<\/p>\n
MASTER SEEKER<\/b> is speedy, but has been unable to hang on vs. top competition in 2-turners as of yet. Trainer kobras<\/i> says, “Well, my Medaglia D’Oro colt was right in the thick of things last time out, but the jock lost his whip. I think he’s ready to do some damage here!” he’s 8\/1 and has some convincing to do.<\/p>\n
CYRUS DE VIRUS<\/b> is an interesting one, also one of the types that Derby Lock races are created for… The Giant’s Causeway colt had a tremendous 2yo season on the turf, culminating in the Breeder’s Bowl Turf and a divisional Eclipse Award. So, what did wreckagees<\/i> do with his turf star? After a 3-month rest, his colt won an easy turf allowance, then was tried on the dirt in another allowance. The colt’s subsequent dirt-debut win was so impressive that he’s jumped right up into the bigtime. He’s 8\/1, and not without a shot… Just how good IS this guy?<\/p>\n
TWIN OF QUEENSLAND<\/b> is a son of lightly-used Japan sire Twining out of a B-graded racemare whose offspring has rarely been able to compliment Mommy’s talent. This colt has tried several Graded runs without success, but graywolf6<\/i> takes another shot with him. This one will need the race of his life to compete in this spot; the 21\/1 odds might even be a bit low.<\/p>\n
WINDPROUD<\/b> also comes back quickly, two weeks after a strong finish just behind TIME FOR BUDA<\/b> in the Grade 1 Sand Castle Derby. The Sea The Stars colt had been brought along more deliberately before that by lenny12<\/i>, but now “It’s go time!”, he says. Has never missed the board in his seven starts. He’s the second-favorite at 6\/1.<\/p>\n
CHEERFULLY<\/b> came to life when stretched out to 2-turn racing a couple starts back, and his 106 speed last time out is is the 3rd-best in the Classic category by a 3yo this year. The Tale Of The Cat colt gets 11\/1 odds here; if he can duplicate his last in this tougher group, the batesy<\/i> trainee will be very much in it at the end. The jock doesn’t inspire confidence, though.<\/p>\n
MAGISTERIUM<\/b> is just the kind of horse that could seize an opportunity such as the “Derby Lock” program to make it to Louisville. The mtkgrs2<\/i> trainee was unraced at 2, but has been impressive in winning the three races he’s tried in 2012. At 11\/1, this is a real class test for the Distorted Humor colt, but he is not without a shot at that big prize.<\/p>\n
FLIP FLOP TIP TOP<\/b> has already run 14 times in his career, with an amazing ten of those being in Graded stakes. He’s been competitive in nearly all ten of those Graded races, but hasn’t been able to get his nose on the wire first in any of them. My guess is that the Henny Hughes colt could benefit from some pasture time, but ramo<\/i> says, “He’s a bundle of energy, has never missed anything in his feed bucket at any time, and is as sound as they come!”. The CPU certainly likes his chances, installing him as the 5\/1 choice.<\/p>\n
DYNAKAZE<\/b> was very impressive in his last pair, an easy maiden win at today’s distance followed by a strong minor-stakes win. Like MAGISTERIUM<\/b>, this Dynaformer colt is just the type that the “Derby Lock” program is made for. Trained by lopic<\/i>, this guy hasn’t beaten much yet, but could be tough at 9\/1.<\/p>\n
WONDERFUL DREAM<\/b> is the aforementioned filly, winner of two 9-furlong Graded stakes races against her own sex. Her trainer, mclaughlin<\/i>, is very happy to see a fast track for his Curlin filly; he blames soft track condidtions for the lackluster effort in her last. Talented runner might need a speed-ratings boost to score here, but she appears quite capable and gets 11\/1 odds.<\/p>\n
ARCHANGEL’S BLADE<\/b> has done quite nicely in sprints, but the First Samurai colt did poorly in his only route try last time out. Overall, his bloodlines’ influences are pretty sprint-heavy; the newdeel<\/i> trainee will need to outrun his pedigree (and his 18\/1 odds) to be anything other than a pace factor here.<\/p>\n
The ol’ crystal-ball comes out…<\/p>\n
I’ve gotta go with EARACHE<\/b>‘s closing rush to get the job done here.<\/p>\n
CYRUS DE VIRUS<\/b> looks best of the rest.<\/p>\n
I’ll go with CHEERFULLY<\/b> to grab the last spot on the podium.<\/p>\n
Good luck to all!<\/p>\n
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Turf Champ Tries To Cross Over<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":247,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"colormag_page_container_layout":"default_layout","colormag_page_sidebar_layout":"default_layout","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-previews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/247"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10116"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10116\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}