{"id":10627,"date":"2013-04-12T19:48:51","date_gmt":"2013-04-12T19:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blacktypebugler.com\/?p=10627"},"modified":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"-0001-11-30T00:00:00","slug":"oldbtb_99","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/?p=10627","title":{"rendered":"Preview &#8211; Grade 1 Corkscrew"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><b>By ITCH<\/b><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Are Derby locks superfluous?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>That is, does a Grade 1 for 3yos really need a special designation?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>One of the final two &#8220;Derby locks&#8221; runs Saturday in Kentucky. It&#8217;s the <i><b>Grade 1 $750,000 Corkscrew Stakes.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The winner is &#8220;locked&#8221; into the Bluegrass Derby.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But don&#8217;t the 128 points for winning a Grade 1 lock a horse into the Derby, anyway?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Currently, there are 20 horses signed up for the Bluegrass Derby. One of them is PAPA JOE, MMaster&#8217;s son of Monsun who pulled a big upset in a previous &#8220;Derby lock.&#8221; Before that race, Papa Joe had only 10 stakes points. Now, he has 138, good for 10th in the qualifying order. By virtue of wining a &#8220;Derby lock,&#8221; Papa Joe is guaranteed a spot in the starting gate in the Bluegrass Derby. But, even with only 10 stakes points before his big win, Papa Joe seems a lock anyway with his new total of 138.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>But, whatever.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>LOL.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>These BTB previews need a lead-in paragraph and I had to come up with something.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>One thing the Derby locks do is to generate excitement for the Bluegrass Derby trail, so there is the redeeming value right there.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Let&#8217;s get to the horses, shall we?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>With the timing of the race only three weeks before the Bluegrass Derby, the Corkscrew seems like a race for the last-chance crowd, and there are a few of those in here. Why would a trainer of a horse who already had made the Derby want to run in the Corkscrew? It&#8217;s only three weeks before the big race. Why would you want to set yourself up to run on short rest if you did not have to? I guess there must be a good reason. We&#8217;ll have to ask the great <i>Dixie<\/i>, trainer of Breeders&#8217; Bowl Juvenile champion <b>TAYLOR&#8217;S TOWN<\/b>. Currenty ranked No. 3, Taylor&#8217;s Town owns enough stakes points that Dixie had the luxury of brining his light gray son of More Than Ready into the Derby any way he saw fit. And what way was that? To set him up for only three weeks&#8217; rest before the Derby. Perhaps the thinking might be to get a horse on the short-rest program early in preparation for the Triple Crown. If Taylor&#8217;s Town runs well on the first Saturday in May and earns a trip to the Middle Jewel only two weeks later, he will not be racing on short rest for the first time. Perhaps Dixie really wants his horse in strong shape to get ready for that brutal Triple Crown series. There&#8217;s a reason that horses often are thrown off form for a year or more after running in more than one Triple Crown race. The schedule forces a trainer to do something he never would do on his own with a promising 3yo. The compact schedule of the Triple Crown races may help keep the attention of the racing public, but it makes mincemeat out of the best 3yo horses in the game. The timing of the Bluegrass Derby probably is not the primary concern of Taylor&#8217;s Town, anyway. It&#8217;s the 10-furlong distance. While Taylor&#8217;s Town captured the BB Juvenile at 8.5 furlongs, he&#8217;s only raced two routes in his eight career starts, and retains the look of a sprinter for now. Dixie chose seven furlongs as the distance for Taylor&#8217;s Town debut race for 2013. Stretched out again to 8.5 furlongs last out in the Grade 3 Buccaneer Derby, Taylor&#8217;s Town was nothing like he was on BB day. Instead, this champion colt finished ninth, a rather shocking result. In that race, he was defeated by Bammie&#8217;s HUNTING BLIND, who he will meet again today. (No other horses from the Buccaneer are entered in the Corkscrew.) It might be that Dixie was thinking he&#8217;d go straight to the Bluegrass Derby off the Buccaneer Derby, and was forced into a change in plans when the horse ran so bad. Maybe he doesn&#8217;t want to go into the Derby off a ninth-place run. So, Dixie will be looking for an improved effort from his BB champion on Saturday, so that he will be confident for the Bluegrass Derby. In terms of class, he towers over the field for the Corkscrew. He&#8217;s got $1.43 million in career earnings, far more than any other runner. But, it will be the horse&#8217;s first race at nine furlongs, and the first time he&#8217;s ever had to rebound from a poor race. Before running ninth last out, Taylor&#8217;s Town never had been worse than third. Another bad race in the Corkscrew, and Taylor Town&#8217;s form is going to look awfully shaky on Derby day. He needs a good race here to be taken seriously in the Run for the Roses.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Encouraging news for the trainers of up-and-comers who are looking to make a huge score in the Corkscrew and win a place in the Bluegrass Derby starting gate. Both of the top two qualifiers have raced poorly of late. While Taylor&#8217;s Town was ninth last out, the <i>Super Stables<\/i>&#8216; <b>TEARS OF FIRE<\/b> shows two poor races in a row. This light gray son of Street Cry probably has a spot in the Bluegrass Derby secured with 132 points and a current ranking of No. 14, but he&#8217;d better turn it around in the Corkscrew to have any kind of serious consideration on the first Saturday in May. If he misses the board again, Tears of Fire will have to be considered an outsider in the Derby. Earlier in his career, this colt showed a nice closing kick. He closed from sixth to win a Grade 3 going 8.5 furlongs as a 2yo. You would think that a horse who closed like that going that far as a juvenile would have plenty of staying power. But, since a front-running score in the Grade 2 Club Stakes in December, Tears of Fire has had a hard time keeping his momentum in the stretch. He ran a good race three back in the Grade 2 If I Don&#8217;t Win This I&#8217;m Glue, setting the pace like he did in the Club Stakes before settling for second. But, in his last two, Tears of Fire has pressed the pace in third before backing up in the lane both times. This horse has to find a way to go back to passing horses in the stretch, not getting passed. The colt has raced six times since October, and it could be the regular racing schedule has left him a bit sour. He certainly does not bear the look of a colt who is kicking down the barn walls to go running in the Triple Crown series.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>While the first two are looking for a turnaround race, that certainly is not the case with the third-place qualifier. <i>OKDavid&#8217;s<\/i> <b>LONHRO&#8217;S IMPACT<\/b> comes into the Corkscrew on an extended winning streak. This brown son of Lonhro has won five in a row! With 120.5 stakes points and a No. 17 ranking, OKDavid&#8217;s talented colt is perched perilously close to the Bluegrass Derby bubble. He might make it into the field if he misses the board, but would be better off running at least third to make sure he gets an invitation. This horse has flourished since a switch from turf to dirt. Considering that six of the top seven Sim horses sired by Lonhro are turf runners, it&#8217;s no surprise that OKDavid was expecting a grass-course runner with Lonhro&#8217;s Impact. He debuted the horse on the turf, and ran his first four races on the grass. However, after failing to clear his initial allowance condition in his first two tries, OKDavid made a great decision and switched to dirt. The horse has responded. I mean, really, really responded. He&#8217;s undefeated on the main track, winning five in a row. His last three victories all have been in stakes races. OKDavid has patiently worked his horse up the class ladder during his winning streak. He won one allowance, then another before winning a non-graded stake. Then, he took the next logical steps, winning a Grade 3 and then a Grade 2. It&#8217;s worth noting that Lonhro&#8217;s Impact has kept his winning streak going despite facing much bigger, tougher fields in his last two. The first three wins in the streak were against short fields. Not so last out in the Grade 2 Felipe Alou, which featured a full field of 14. Not so two back in the Grade 3 Scam, which offered a field of 12 going Saturday&#8217;s distance of nine furlongs. What&#8217;s not to like about a horse on a five-race winning streak? If he wins again on Saturday, he&#8217;s going to attract a lot of attention on Derby day with what could be a six-race winning streak. OKDavid sure is hoping he can win the Corkscrew and go into the Bluegrass with a hot horse.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>That&#8217;s it for the horses who have enough stakes points to make the Derby, or at least come very close to it. The rest of the field has only one way to get to the Bluegrass Derby: Win! The first of this hopeful lot is <i>Gobidon&#8217;s<\/i> <b>BOLTIE<\/b>, who has only 62 stakes points and must win the Corkscrew to go to the Bluegrass. This colt ran a big race last out when third in the Grade 3 Land&#8217;s End going Saturday&#8217;s distance of nine furlongs over this Kentucky track. That third-place run set Boltie up very nicely for the Corkscrew. He does not have to travel. He does not have to change distance. He retains the services of jockey PJ Munoz. Gobidon is glad to see a lot of things stay the same for his colt. All he has to do now is change his finish position from third to first. Can he do it? One thing&#8217;s for sure: He&#8217;ll try. This is a seasoned, professional racehorse who gives his best all the time. He&#8217;s consistent, hitting the board in eight of his 10 career races. He&#8217;s improving, with jumps in the speed figure department in his last two, culminating with an impressive 107 last out. He&#8217;s a grinding type of horse who makes his own trip. Now, let&#8217;s see if Boltie can fashion a trip to the Bluegrass.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Next is <i>Bobangod<\/i> with <b>GHOST OF GOLD<\/b>. This brown son of Ghostzapper boasts an impressive career racing record of five wins from eight starts, but his confidence took a big hit last out when he flopped in the Grade 1 All Saints Derby. There was no Derby lock prep victory waiting on Ghost of Gold in the All Saints, and he&#8217;ll have to turn it around quick to make it happen in the Corkscrew. What a bummer that bad race last out had to be for Bobangod, as Ghost of Gold was looking good coming into it. Before running what was by far the worst race of his young life, Ghost of Gold was a hot horse. He had won two in a row and three of four. He showed improving speed figures, from 94 to 99 to 105. Then, he entered the gate in the All Saints and all that momentum vanished. While MMaster&#8217;s PAPA JOE was shocking the Sim world, and in particular Matt&#8217;s chat-room mate Given, with his victory in the All Saints, Ghost of Gold failed to materialize. (Like a ghost, right?) Ghost of Gold was dead last in the All Saints, 14th and beaten by 17 lengths. He&#8217;s failed to hit the board now in both of his Grade 1 attempts. To make matters worse, the horse never had raced beyond a mile before failing last out the handle the 8.5 furlongs of the All Saints. Now, he stretches out another half a furlong to run on only two weeks rest in a last-ditch attempt to make the Derby. Bad time for the &#8220;check engine&#8221; light to come on for this talented colt.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>LOOKING FOR SUMMER<\/b> ran such a good race in the All Saints Derby two weeks ago that <i>Punter<\/i> just has to take a shot on short rest to get this horse into the Bluegrass Derby. This light gray son of Unbridled&#8217;s Song ran a great, big 109 speed figure while a strongly contending third in the All Saints. In that race, Looking for Summer overcame a wide post as No. 13 to be third. He broke in good shape, advancing to third while four wide around the first turn. The horse always was in contention, pressing the pace down the backstretch while three wide. At no point in the All Saints did Looking for Summer take his mind off running. However, PAPA JOE got position on him turning for home, and went on to win. But, Looking for Summer ran hard down the stretch to be only narrowly defeated by Balata&#8217;s PRESPECTOR, who is Bluegrass Derby-bound. In the All Saints, Prespector earned a figure of 110 and Looking for Summer a 109. So, these two colts were only one point apart, but are worlds apart in terms of qualifying for the Derby. Prespector is in. Looking for Summer is out, unless he can come back on short rest and beat a good field in the Corkscrew. That was a tough, grinding race last out for this colt, and it&#8217;s hard to imagine that he&#8217;s back at his razor-sharp best already only two weeks later. However, the lure of the Bluegrass Derby forces good trainers to put their 3yo colts in bad spots. Punter is a great, old-timey Sim trainer. He&#8217;s started more than 30,000 horses! This is a veteran who&#8217;s forgotten more about the game than a lot of winning trainers know. He wants to run in the Derby and he&#8217;s willing to ask a lot of his colt to get there.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Now, we have a colt to root for. <i>Bammie <\/i>has been around long enough now that she has shed her newbie status. Her flagship bamstables barn has made 375 starts. While no longer new to the Sim, Bammie is new to winning graded races. Her contender in the Corkscrew, <b>HUNTING BLIND<\/b>, brought her first graded victory in her Sim training career last out when he upset the Grade 3 Buccaneer Derby, defeating the Breeders Bowl Juvenile champion in the process. (Taylor&#8217;s Town, who he meets again today.) \u00a0These are very exciting times for Bammie, so we visited with this affable Sim trainer on the Kentucky backstretch for the first of two interviews for this article. Bam, this horse ran huge last out, winning the Grade 3 Buccaneer Derby with a big 108. &#8220;Yeah he did,&#8221; said Bammie. &#8220;Surprised me a bit actually.&#8221; Hunting Blind&#8217;s victory was Bammie&#8217;s first graded victory in the Sim. &#8220;I was really excited,&#8221; she said. Now, how would you feel if he won on Saturday and made the Derby? &#8220;Probably past excited,&#8221; she said. &#8220;Whatever that would make me.&#8221; How do you like your chances in the Corkscrew? &#8220;He&#8217;s got a chance, but it&#8217;s going to be a tough race I think.&#8221; Bammie goes into the Corkscrew with good-luck wishes from chat room mates cadet, deeprock, frankster, jetman and itch.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>As a running joke in the chat room, people keep showing <i>Given <\/i>links of MMaster Matt&#8217;s Papa Joe, a son of Monsun who jumped all the way from seven-furlong races to the Bluegrass Derby starting gate with an upset victory in the Bluegrass. Given, who&#8217;s won every race the Sim ever invented except the Bluegrass Derby, reacts with indignation, as if insulted by the repeated posting of Matt&#8217;s horse. Dan already has one horse qualified for the Derby, and now he&#8217;d like to get two, if only to have a link to show Matt in the chat room. Given&#8217;s first qualifier is THE COOLEST, a son of More Than Ready who has earned more than $400,000, but not the confidence of his trainer. Given has said that he does not like the chances of The Coolest in the Derby. He&#8217;s hoping for a second runner with <b>ENDOTHERMIC<\/b>, a bay son of Bernardini who is an unusual horse for Given in that he is a scratch-bred. The Fire and Blood Stables have a cavalry of blue-blooded mares, but Dan wanted to match Bernardini with Mr. Prospector as dam-sire here, and chose Nijinsky II on the back end. The result is a late-running colt who has won three of his five starts so far. Dan has been careful in spotting this colt so far. His last three races have been of the non-graded variety. Endothermic improved to triple-digit speed figures in his last two. With his confidence built up, now&#8217;s the time to take a shot. He makes a lot more sense in this spot than some of the others in here. To me, this is the kind of colt to take a shot with in a late Derby lock, with only three weeks left before the first Saturday in May. Logic dictates that the horses with high point totals should have raced already to have more rest before the Derby. If Taylor&#8217;s Town hadn&#8217;t run ninth last out, he might not be in this field, either. So, Given is taking a shot, stretching this colt out to nine furlongs and tackling Grade 1 for the first time. The horse has talent and is lightly raced, and remains eligible for a big improvement. Wouldn&#8217;t Dan like to win so he has a link to show to MMaster Matt? Given is desperate to win the Bluegrass Derby and he would love to have another horse in the starting gate on May 4.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>You can always tell when you&#8217;re racing against a homebred from <i>Cadet&#8217;s <\/i>10-stable outfit because the horse will have &#8220;Cadet&#8221; in its name. This type of branding is convenient because it allows handicappers and competitors to readily identify who&#8217;s in the race. In the Corkscrew, Robby has <b>RECONDITE CADET<\/b>, a bay son of Dynaformer who is graded placed, but has won only one race and will go to post as the longest shot in the field at 23-1. Now, let&#8217;s get to the Kentucky backstretch for another BTB interview: &#8220;Recondite is my last-gasp Hail Mary attempt,&#8221; said Cadet. How many other colts did you have as Derby hopefuls? &#8220;I also had TRAPPE CADET. Recondite was my early pick as a top juvenile. I was excited to see him run and purchased an allowance race on Christmas Day, but he came back injured.&#8221; A lousy Christmas present, indeed. &#8220;I moved on to Trappe Cadet as the stable star. I was entered in an allowance race last time out for Recondite, but found a very light Grade 2 and figured it was worth a shot. He ran out of his skin, got some graded points and a shot in the Corkscrew.&#8221; It&#8217;s a shot that Cadet is honored to take. &#8220;Another reason I went in the Corkscrew is I&#8217;m very excited to run in that field,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I&#8217;m a big fan of Hunting Blind. It&#8217;s always nice to beat Given with Endothermic, and running against Taylor&#8217;s Town isn&#8217;t something you get to do all the time.&#8221; Most handicappers are going to turn their noses up at Recondite Cadet, because he&#8217;s only won that one race. But, the horse retains the right to improve in only his sixth career start, and is improving nicely since that December injury. If he takes another step forward, we could be looking at a live longshot here.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The rest of the runners in the Corkscrew must be considered with a degree of skepticism. All have qualified behind a horse that is 23-1 and only won once.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>You know that old Beatles song about getting by with a little help from your friends? Let&#8217;s give that a try here in the early-morning hours on Friday and see if my late-night gang in the chat room can help me with a horse. Let&#8217;s let the group take a look at <b>SPIN IT UP<\/b>, a brown son of the AP Indy sire Majestic Warrior. <i>Handshobby<\/i> will represent the Universal Racing Club with this colt. Now friends, what do we make of him? &#8220;I don&#8217;t know,&#8221; said Tyger. &#8220;I&#8217;d be happy, lol.&#8221; Sure, we would. Almost any trainer would be happy to own Spin It Up, who has earned more than $100,000 in his first nine starts, hitting the exacta in seven of them. &#8220;He&#8217;s rapidly improving,&#8221; said Goody, who I&#8217;ve known for many years in the Sim. &#8220;He beat a very nice graded-placed Drosselmeyer colt last time out. He&#8217;s ready for a step up in class.&#8221; That Drosselmeyer colt was Frankster&#8217;s BRO, who failed to earn a Derby trip last out when a disappointing ninth in the Wooden Indian. Goody continued: &#8220;His only poor showing was when thrown to the wolves in Equinics but that alone speaks of the high hopes from early on in his career.&#8221; Spin It Up is consistent, which earns the respect of veteran Simmer Nextbonus. &#8220;He does what he&#8217;s asked to do. That&#8217;s all you can ask for,&#8221; said Bill. Now, Handshobby is asking Spin It Up to win him an owner&#8217;s box in Simulated Louisville on May 4.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><i>Fleetwood <\/i>will represent the Northwest Racing Circuit in the Corkscrew with <b>ELITE SENSE<\/b>. This brown son of Street Sense disappointed last out while fifth as the second betting choice in the Grade 2 Land&#8217;s End. Before that defeat of almost 10 lengths, Elite Sense had caught the eye of the morning-line oddsmaker with a fat 108 speed figure two back in a non-graded stake going nine furlongs. No matter, the horse could not replicate that effort in the Land&#8217;s End. Now, he must turn it around in a hurry if he&#8217;s to start in the Bluegrass Derby. While the horse has a respectable strike rate in the exacta (six for nine), his strike rate for winning races is starting to look a little suspect (two for nine). While other horses in here have a habit of finding the winner&#8217;s circle, Elite Sense is developing a bad habit of avoiding it. The colt retains the services of his regular rider, J. Brewer, under whom he&#8217;s developed lately the familiar good race-bad race pattern. In his last four, Elite Sense has two good races and two disappointing fifth-place runs. Saturday sure would be a great time for a good race. A really, really good race!\u00a0<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Next we have the trainer who really has become a big story in this year&#8217;s Derby trail. <i>Otto Haack<\/i>, a leading member of Hispano Parlante, recently won two Derby lock preps on the same day. He took down the Sand Castle with HAACK&#8217;S DUKE, and also won the Florida Derby with EL QUERREQUERRE. Both are entered in the Bluegrass Derby, and represent a strong one-two punch and a heck of an entry for one of the Sim&#8217;s best trainers. Haack and Ledwith have made Hispano Parlante a force to be reckoned with in the Sim. Can Haack make it a three-horse entry with <b>HAACK&#8217;S EXCHANGE<\/b>? This chestnut son of Exchange Rate, out of his Awesome Again mare SRA. HAACK, has been improving in his last two while racing at the shorter distance of a mile. The horse has won two in a row, and improved from a 95 speed figure to a 103 last out while clearly best in a short field of four in a non-graded race. However, that winning streak is in serious jeopardy on Saturday. Haack is asking this horse to make a dreaded double jump in class and distance. This is a common thing for 3yos in the spring, as trainers take a shot and just hope their horse has it in them to compete at the longer distances and higher class. After all, won&#8217;t all trainers in the Bluegrass Derby be making that dreaded double jump on the first Saturday in May? How do you know if a horse can get 10 furlongs against the 20 fastest 3yos in the Sim? Only one way to find out, and that&#8217;s run him. Same goes for Haack&#8217;s Exchange, who would surprise at 16-1. However, wasn&#8217;t it a surprise when Haack won two Derby locks on the same day?<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>The next of the final five, who are going to have to show something special to warrant serious handicapping consideration, is <i>Dundey&#8217;s <\/i><b>INCIDENT<\/b>. This brown son of Ghostzapper has won more races than any other horse in the field: seven. But, he&#8217;s lacking in stakes points because Dundey has spotted conservatively, content to take down repeated allowance scores. He eschewed stakes racing for the first nine starts of Incident&#8217;s career, and it&#8217;s easy to see why. The horse only won three of his first nine starts. It was not until the 10th and final start of his juvenile campaign that Incident met stakes foes. He met them, and he beat them! Dundey found a very nice grand finale for Incident&#8217;s 2yo season, finishing off with a non-graded stake win and the first 90-plus speed figure of his life. Then, Dundey went right back to allowance, stretching all the way to 10 furlongs for another win. By now, Incident was making a serous habit of showing up in the winner&#8217;s circle. His stakes win started a three-race winning streak that was snapped two back in the second non-graded stake of his career. Shortened back to 7.5 furlongs last out, Incident returned to his winning ways. He earned the first triple-digit speed figure of his life with a 102 while beating a short field of four. Now, a horse that has been spotted conservatively while piling up wins on a regular racing schedule takes the class jump of his life into the Grade 1 Corkscrew. The horse likes to win, but if he could do it at nine furlongs in Grade 1 company, it would surprise. If Incident somehow pulls off a shocking upset at 16-1, he will become Dundey&#8217;s second Derby runner in 2013. He already has one signed up near the top of the list with LEFT SIDE STRONG, a Grade 1 winner who was second in last year&#8217;s Breeder&#8217;s Bowl Juvenile.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div>Finally, we have <b>FOOZBALL<\/b>, who would make for an amazing story if he were to win on Saturday. This is the 14th and final qualifier in the final Derby lock race of the spring. Of all the last chances on the Derby trail, this horse takes the last chance of them all. And, believe it or not, the horse looks live! He&#8217;s a lightly raced, rapidly improving roan son of Any Given Saturday. You won&#8217;t be able to miss this colt during the running of the Corkscrew. He&#8217;ll be the nearly white horse on the lead. This is a very speedy colt who appears to be the likely pace-setter. He&#8217;s only got one gear, and that&#8217;s get moving Bill Daly-style from the start. The horse breaks on top, then tries to improve his position. In four career races, he&#8217;s had a lead of open lengths at the second call every time. In winning a non-graded stake going shorter last out, Foozball bounced right out of the gate, outbreaking a colt named QUICK GETAWAY. (Not quick enough, apparently.) <i>Sledge <\/i>watched his speedy colt build a lead of six lengths before a closer named RAINY STREET came flying at him. Foozball was tired by the end, and his victory was saved by the wire. Now, we&#8217;ll see how long he can last going nine furlongs in a Grade 1. He&#8217;s lone speed, and that makes him dangerous. How do we know he&#8217;s not going to just keep on trucking this time? For the final qualifier in the final Derby prep, this colt has a real chance. At the very least, he compromises the chances of any other runner in here who likes to be on or near the pace. They&#8217;ll be forced into the unfavorable chasing position, always a tough trip. Foozball is going to look dangerous when he&#8217;s ahead by open lengths going down the backstretch. He makes only his fifth start here, and retains the right to improve. Sledge represents the Northwest Racing Circuit, which has a strong contingent of multiple horses in the Corkscrew.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>GOOD LUCK EVERYBODY!!!!!<\/b><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Trainers take last shot at Derby<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":225,"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":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627","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\/225"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10627\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/btb.ehorseracing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}