Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
1 | Cool Coal Man | Julian Leparoux | Nick Zito |
2 | Tale of Ekati | Eibar Coa | Barclay Tagg |
3 | Anak Nakal | Rafael Bejarano | Nick Zito |
4 | Court Vision | Garrett Gomez | Bill Mott |
5 | Eight Belles | Gabriel Saez | Larry Jones |
6 | Z Fortune | Robby Albarado | Steve Asmussen |
7 | Big Truck | Javier Castellano | Barclay Tagg |
8 | Visionaire | Jose Lezcano | Micahel Matz |
9 | Pyro | Shawn Bridgmohan | Steve Asmussen |
10 | Colonel John | Corey Nakatani | Eoin Harty |
11 | Z Humor | Rene Douglas | Bill Mott |
12 | Smooth Air | Manoel Cruz | Bennie Stutts, Jr. |
13 | Bob Black Jack | Richard Migliorie | James Kasparoff |
14 | Monba | Ramon Dominguez | Todd Pletcher |
15 | Adriano | Edgar Prado | Graham Motion |
16 | Denis of Cork | Calvin Borel | David Carol |
17 | Cowboy Cal | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher |
18 | Recapturetheglory | E.T. Baird | Louie Roussel III |
19 | Gayego | Mike Smith | Paulo Lobo |
20 | Big Brown | Kent Desormeaux | Rick Dutrow |
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Kentucky Derby Post Positions
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Name That Horse
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Do it yourself research
The Blood-Horse – Check out the Triple Crown Mania Section. Steve Haskins is the main correspondent who will be watching and reporting on all the horses at Churchill Downs. Watch the Target Louisville videos to see the horses’ workouts and you can see replays of most of the Derby preps too.
Daily Racing Form – The DerbyWatch is a one page chart of all the contenders with comments from DRF columnists. You can also find free past performances and workout reports.
KentuckyDerby.com – Profiles, pedigrees, workouts, and race videos for all the contenders. You can watch replays and view official charts of previous Derbies, find a mint julep recipe and the words to “My Old Kentucky Home”.
Equidaily.com – A site that provides links to an assortment of sites, videos, and news stories. A reporter at an Idaho newspaper does a story on Big Brown? You’ll find a link to it here.
Louisville Courier-Journal – They have a whole Derby section with the latest news and interviews. Got an angle you think is a surefire Derby predictor? Plug it into the Derby Data Track Database and see who meets the criterion this year.
Del Mar Pedigree Query – Check this site to find 5 generation pedigrees and dosage information for each horse.
These are the main sources of information for my field notes for each race. Check them out and see what you can glean from them yourself. In the meantime, I’ll start compiling my own thoughts which so far consist mainly of how much I hate twenty horse Derby fields!
The Annoyed Handicapper
Friday, April 25, 2008
Just a Bunch of Letters
James Scully in his The Handicappeer’s Report for brisnet.com has broken down the contenders in the upcoming 2008 Kentucky Derby. At this point, the field is not set in stone by any means; however, some reasonable deductions can be made as to which horses will run. Scully looks at the horses’ BRIS figures from their last three races. The first number in the list is the most recent race. What you can’t learn from the numbers is certain specific information about each race. For example, Bob Black Jack ran a credible 106 BRIS three races ago. What you might not know is that the race was a 6 ½ f sprint.
ADRIANO -- 101, 81, 97
ANAK NAKAL -- 96, 89, 84
BEHINDATTHEBAR -- 99, 90, 89
BIG BROWN -- 110, 102, 91
BIG TRUCK -- 83, 99, 96
BOB BLACK JACK -- 97, 93, 106
COLONEL JOHN -- 98, 90, 96
COOL COAL MAN -- 85, 100, 94
COURT VISION -- 98, 93, 90
COWBOY
DENIS OF
EIGHT BELLES -- 103, 99, 98
GAYEGO -- 101, 94, 99
MONBA -- 97, 55, 95
PYRO -- 84, 100, 96
RECAPTURETHEGLORY -- 104, 86, 99
SMOOTH AIR -- 105, 95, 99
TALE OF EKATI -- 100, 92, 94
VISIONAIRE -- 90, 100, 93
Z FORTUNE -- 100, 92, 94
Z HUMOR -- 99, 90, 91
There is some question about the filly, Eight Belles, running. She may opt for the Kentucky Oaks on Friday and be the solid favorite in that race.
A friend has told me several times that the
So who will win? I haven’t a real clue. Big Brown, the latest in a short line of favorites this year, might suffer from bad feet and definitely has inexperience. Pyro, the fallen wonder horse, might just be the horse to beat. How will
So my prediction for Kentucky Derby 2008 is that the horses will finish in alphabetical order.
Friday, April 4, 2008
Big Big Saturday
Giant Moon is scheduled to run in the Wood Memorial tomorrow at Aqueduct, but he isn't alone, not by a long-shot. Joining Giant Moon are Anak Nakal, Tale of Ekati, Court Vision, and War Pass among others. I believe that War Pass just wasn't right when he finished last in the Tampa Bay Derby in his last race. Reports are that he's been working strongly of late. I believe War Pass will be an angry horse. He didn't like finishing last, and he just didn't feel well. So I believe that War Pass, coming off an excellent breakfast, will blast the noble field. Court Vision will bow down in second while Giant Moon will run a small third. Tale of Ekati and Anak Nakal will get lost in their names.
At Hawthorne, the Illinois Derby will be run while the Earth continues to rotate. It looks to me to be a one-horse race. Denis of Cork. Experts rave that, "He's done nothing wrong." Denis of Cork will successfully complete his audition for the "Lawyer Ron" part in the Triple Crown races to come. Atoned has a fine name but has lacked and Z Humor will finish behind Promise.
The other huge race of the day is, of course, the Santa Anita Derby. Colonel John is the favorite but he could be pressed by El Gato Malo. Yankee Bravo is also in the field and could be a factor as is Bob Black Jack. I've never been sold on Colonel John, although I admit to having a bias against horses racing in California (except for Lost in the Fog). El Gato Malo has looked good of late, but I think this race is ripe for a long shot upset. Look for Coast Guard (20-1) or Signature Move (30-1).
Interesting things are afoot in our little family contest. Antilles Stable has made a massive push to the top. With 86 points they are second in our league and ranked 1595 internationally (out of 19,000). Schanuci continues to lead with 88 points (#1337). Walkin' Tall and Miracles are lurking.
Most stables will have the opportunity to play horses in each of the three included races this weekend. So big points could be earned. Walkin' Tall had the early advantage on weekends like this earlier in the season, but the additional three horses added to the stables may have mitigated that advantage.
Enough ramblin'...
League Rank | Score | Stable Name | Player |
1 | 88 | SCHANUCI | John Ryder |
2 | 86 | Antilles Stable | Elizabeth Ryder |
3 | 80 | Walkin' Tall | Andrew Ryder |
4 | 76 | Miracles | Thom Ryder |
5 | 64 | Princess Shea | philip martinez |
6 | 60 | APACHE_ROSE_PEACOCK | Andrew Ryder |
7 | 52 | Creasy Greens | Thomas Ryder |
8 | 47 | Yes We Can | John Wallace |
9 | 33 | Clifton Pond Stable | Rebecca Ryder |