ARFTCHC F 2008 Derby Results

Greetings all,

It’s not easy to write a summation for this particular Derby. There’s so much to celebrate in the win by Big Brown. It was an awesome performance, adding another 4 lengths to bring his total lifetime victory margin to 33 lengths in four races. It was an outside stalking trip tour de force for horse and rider. Check out some photos of horse and jockey after the race. There’s not a speck of dirt on them. They started twenty-wide moved over to four-wide and stayed there until they took the lead. They never actually ran directly behind any other horse. It’s like Desormeaux was purposefully keeping them clean for the winner’s circle photos.

Denis of Cork came up the rail (under Calvin “Bo-Rail” Borel) to run a good third. Check out the video replay and watch the horse essentially make a left turn directly to the rail shortly after breaking from the gate. It was like watching a football player do a sideways drill at full speed.

And then there’s the hard stuff. Eight Belles… She ran a tremendous race – clearly the best of the rest, but it’s so sad that was her last performance. I have never seen a fatal injury occur so far past the finish line when the horse was slowing down and just galloping out. They are performing a necropsy on Eight Belles to try to determine the cause for the injuries. No matter what the cause, it does illustrate the fragility of some of these horses. The racing industry has done some things to try to address this issue, and I hope this event will add urgency to those efforts. At least then some good can come of it.

As for the rest of the field, technical difficulties prevent me from reproducing the official chart in this email, but suffice it to say that the comment lines for well over half the field include the words “bumped” and “steadied”. Not particularly helpful when you’re trying to put in your best effort.

Here’s the full order of finish:

1	Big Brown
2	Eight Belles
3	Denis of Cork
4	Tale of Ekati
5	Recapturetheglory
6	Colonel John
7	Anak Nakal
8	Pyro
9	Cowboy Cal
10	Z Fortune
11	Smooth Air
12	Visionaire
13	Court Vision
14	Z Humor
15	Cool Coal Man
16	Bob BlackJack
17	Gayego
18	Big Truck
19	Adriano
20	Monba

In the 12ARFTCHC Jacqueline and her friend, Peter Andre, picked the exacta and have sprinted clear of the field heading into the first turn. Gordon has tucked in behind the leaders and the rest of us are tightly bunched at the back of the pack. Probably a lot of “bumping” and “steadying” going on back there right now. I’ve listed your Derby results below.

[Click on an image to enlarge]

Now we head to the Preakness. Big Brown has scared off all the Derby horses except Recapturetheglory, but there are at least six new faces who want to take a shot at the Big Brown horse. Trainer Rick Dutrow plans to leave Big Brown at Churchill Downs until next Wednesday and has had the horse out for a gallop already this week. For all of us who find Rick Dutrow irritating here’s a nice little vignette from Steve Haskin in his Blood-Horse write-up on the Derby. “When the second-largest Derby crowd of 157,770 had cleared out of Churchill Downs, Dutrow returned to his barn, hugged his longtime exercise rider and assistant trainer Michelle Nevin, and strutted down the shedrow to see Big Brown.

“Where is he?” Dutrow asked rhetorically, as if about to greet a long lost friend. “You are the freakin’ man,” he said admiringly after entering Big Brown’s stall. He gave the colt a dozen or so affectionate smacks on the neck and then wrapped his arms tightly around his neck for about 30 seconds, as if unable or unwilling to let go. Big Brown never moved as he rested his head on Dutrow’s shoulder. With Big Brown peering straight ahead as Dutrow embraced him, it was one of those priceless moments that seem frozen in time. This is the Rick Dutrow people rarely see. This is when the often brash, outspoken trainer becomes humbled by the equine gifts that have been bestowed upon him.”

On to Pimlico.

May the horse be with you.

~The Annoyed Handicapper