the wood memorial curse in the KD

[boys at tosconova]

no wood memorial horse has finished 2nd or better since 2003.

http://www.paceadvantage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=2147448#post2147448


that's pretty alarming for me and it wasn't until last year i started researching it because i found myself using many wood horses over those years. sometime multiple horses. and all i have to show for it is hundreds of dollars of losing tickets.

think about how many sharp wood horses entered the derby during those years. to say that you haven't used any of these horses or lost using them is lol

alpha, gemologist, normandy invasion, verazano, vyjack, wicked strong, frosted...etc, etc..i'm sure this goes on with even more equally playable horses that entered in the KD. this list doesn't even count the ny horses that went somewhere other than the wood as well. i don't know if that's potentially good or even worse.

will irish war cry and/or battalion runner break the curse and finish at least 2nd?

thing is these really aren't ny horses. and while bat run started in ny he had higher aspirations and wasn't kept here. el areeb is off the trail so we only have these two and j boys...and since j boys went to kee he's really doesn't count

regardless of what happens this year, what really left an indelible image in my mind was irish war cry bouncing back w/ a win and raja looking over his shoulder while pulling away.

it was hard enough for me to claim victory while not using outwork last year. it would take big ones to leave off IWC

[PowerUpPaynter]

Irish War Cry sure is bred well but 83 years since a New Jersey horse won the derby.

[boys at tosconova]

Irish War Cry sure is bred well but 83 years since a New Jersey horse won the derby.

as poorly as the wood to derby track record suggests, there's still no way i can leave out IWC this year. the only possible way is if he gets post 1 or 20. and even if he does, it also seems like he might be good enough to overcome it.

[PowerUpPaynter]

as poorly as the wood to derby track record suggests, there's still no way i can leave out IWC this year. the only possible way is if he gets post 1 or 20. and even if he does, it also seems like he might be good enough to overcome it.

i know the track was dead slow but do the slower final fractions bother you? I want to believe in Irish War Cry considering he was born and bred 20 mins from me. But at the same time the worst thing for a gambler is to have a fan favorite.

[boys at tosconova]

i know the track was dead slow but do the slower final fractions bother you? I want to believe in Irish War Cry considering he was born and bred 20 mins from me. But at the same time the worst thing for a gambler is to have a fan favorite.


no not really worried about it at all. he won by 3.5L and was widening in the process. would you have liked to have seen him win by 10L only to see faster times only to potentially burn him out in the KD? obv you wouldn't, what would that accomplish. he won big in the context of the race and bounced back nicely.

i would have a small concern if he didn't have that beast of race he ran in the bull. but that race is fact enough that this is a really good horse and questioning fractions and if he's fast enough is really unwarranted.

i really think IWC and AD are at the top of the list. after these 2, well, it's gets a little difficult imo

[PowerUpPaynter]

no not really worried about it at all. he won by 3.5L and was widening in the process. would you have liked to have seen him win by 10L only to see faster times only to potentially burn him out in the KD? obv you wouldn't, what would that accomplish. he won big in the context of the race and bounced back nicely.

i would have a small concern if he didn't have that beast of race he ran in the bull. but that race is fact enough that this is a really good horse and questioning fractions and if he's fast enough is really unwarranted.

i really think IWC and AD are at the top of the list. after these 2, well, it's gets a little difficult imo

I was just kinda playing devils advocate, i got a nice 26-1 futures ticket on him. I hope he wins this thing as I got him covered in the win spot changes how i bet the race on race day. Im tossing Always Dreaming from my top spot on exotic tickets. When I look at him I can easily shoot too many holes in him. Very vulnerable. Im not saying he is a crappy horse im just saying i dont think he is as good as a lot of people do.