Arkansas Derby Post Positions and M/L

[Lasix1]

Here's the Post Positions, Riders and M/L for Saturday's $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby. Afleet Alex is the Morning Line Favorite.

1. Batson Challenge Borel 30-1

2. Andromeda's Hero Nakatani 10-1

3. Canteen Espinoza 12-1

4. Rush Bay Razo 12-1

5. Flower Alley Chavez 9-2

6. Afleet Alex Rose 2-1

7. Wild Desert Valenzuela 6-1

8. Real Dandy Chapa 20-1

9. Cat Shaker Bravo 30-1

10. Greater Good McKee 5-2

[cadillac pete]

looking for a long shot? how about Batson Challenge? 2nd time lasix, ground saving trip on the rail, only lost by 3 lenghts to Greater Good in the Rebel. A chance to improve on that race. Worth a shot

[Suff]

Here's the Post Positions, Riders and M/L for Saturday's $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby. Afleet Alex is the Morning Line Favorite.



6. Afleet Alex Rose 2-1

7


JR Off AA. Interesting. Is this news, or did I miss it somewhere.

[rastajenk]

I think he's sticking with Pletcher and Bandini in the Blue Grass. Beyond that, who knows? :confused:

[Lasix1]

JR Off AA. Interesting. Is this news, or did I miss it somewhere.
Yes, JV choose to ride Bandini in the Blue Grass and so JR is back on AA. Tim Richey replaced Rose after two losses last year which he should have won, but put him back up when he suddenly entered Afleet Alex in the Mountain Valley Sprint back in March---a race AA won handily. But he brought JV in to ride him in the Rebel. As you know he lost that race as the 3/5 favorite, but it was later discovered that he had a lung infection. That is cleared up now, and the M/L odds maker at Oaklawn said he figured the public would forgive that race and make him the favorite once again.

There is also the issue of distance, and the suspicion is that AA may be a sprint horse, not a Derby contender. After Saturday, we should have an answer to that question.

I'll arrive at Oaklawn early and will have my usual dozen oysters in honor of my friend SMTW. The forecast is for beautiful weather and my guess is they could have a record turn-out for this year's Arkansas Derby. The $1,000,000 purse has brought in the shippers looking for graded states earnings and with AA and Greater Good already here, the defection of the gimpy-footed Rockport Harbor to the Blue Grass a week later hasn't seemed to make a dent in the enthusiasm for this race.

[grahors]

I think it will be a "Wild" time in Arkansas on Sat. Wild desert/Greater ex box.

[Suff]

Y

I'll arrive at Oaklawn early and will have my usual dozen oysters in honor of my friend SMTW. The forecast is for beautiful weather and my guess is they could have a record turn-out for this year's Arkansas Derby. .

From what I could pick up, it was a banner day. Great weather, Huge crowd. I do know that they pushed back the post times to accomodate the crowd.

Save me the trouble, Do you know what Attendance was? On track handle? All sources handle? Any big numbers? Records broken?

You enjoy yourself? You have a seat? Did you get a close up look at any the TC contenders? Any physical traits stand out to you?

Enough questions. Thanks

[Lasix1]

From what I could pick up, it was a banner day. Great weather, Huge crowd. I do know that they pushed back the post times to accomodate the crowd.

Save me the trouble, Do you know what Attendance was? On track handle? All sources handle? Any big numbers? Records broken?

You enjoy yourself? You have a seat? Did you get a close up look at any the TC contenders? Any physical traits stand out to you?

Enough questions. Thanks
Suff,

It was indeed a banner day for Oaklawn. They moved the first post up by an hour to Noon. The gates opened at 10 a.m. and when I got there at 9:15 there was already a line. I sit in the Arkansas Tavern, a first-come-first-serve-bar on the second floor that is always sold out on Saturdays, even when it isn't Derby Day so I knew I'd have to get there early to get a seat. I got a good one.

Chamber-of-Commerce weather brought out the second largest crowd in Arkansas Derby history---71,010, less than 200 short of the 1986 record of 71,203. A ton of them were sitting in the infield and it was a good thing, too, because every passage way inside this 100-year-old track was a roiling sea of humanity all day long. Last year, 61,455 turned out in a frog-strangling rain storm to watch Smarty Jones, so Derby Day is a huge tradition in this state. Like Easter Sunday and church services, a lot of people show up to worship here on Derby Day who the rest of the year don't set foot in the joint.

I got my bets down and left my seat long enough to get a rail spot and watched them saddle the horses in the infield near the winner's circle. This is also a tradition at Oaklawn for big races, since the regular indoor paddock is cramped and almost impossible to see. The owners and trainers also parade and, come to think of it, it's like Easter in that regard too. Todd Pletcher, Flower Alley's trainer was here, but not Zito. Celebrities like Jerry Jones, owner of the Dallas Cowboys were in attendance, and the racing press was out in force, including Jay Privman of the DRF and a gaggle of reporters from Philadelphia.

Afleet Alex paraded right in front of my nose and if you select them on looks, he was the winner before the gates opened. Dead fit, coat shining like Secretariat at the '73 Belmont, and a picture of a race horse ready to go, I had a feeling we might see something special. Andromeda's Hero (Zito's horse) was washy and nervous, and the rest looked good, but nothing like AA even though he had wraps on all fours just like the rest of his races, and that always makes me nervous.

The crowd favorite was the local horse, Greater Good, winner of both the Southwest Stakes and the Rebel. I never liked him because his Beyers were tepid in every race, even though he kept winning , but everytime he walked by, the adoring crowd screamed "Greater Good, Greater Good, Greater Good!"

When the gates opened Batson Challenge, Canteen and Flower Alley broke for the lead. AA tucked in behind the top three, and Greater Good inexplicably seemed to try to make the lead. At the half mile, run in 47.91 the running order was unchanged from the break. Batson Challenge and Canteen continued to lead the pack going down the backstretch and they ran the 6 furlongs in 112.78. Alex struck with a quick move four-wide at the top of the stretch as the front-runners started backing up. Flower Alley continued on, but the rest folded like a cheap suit. By the time they passed the redbuds at the top of the stretch and track announcer Terry Wallace gave his patented: "and heeeer they come into the stretch of the Arkansas Derby!" it was clear the race was over. AA pulled away, moving like a 'tremendous machine", and the previously fired jockey Jeromy Rose, tapped him five times and later said the crowd was screaming so loudly that he thought Greater Good must be coming. Truth is no one was coming and Alex pulled away from a struggling field to win by 8 lengths, breaking the previous record set in 1952 by a horse named 'Gushing Oil'.

So AA answered a lot of questions. Can he win around two turns? YES. Is he just a sprinter? NO. Does he have physical problems the connections are keeping secret? NO. Will he go to Churchill Downs for the first Saturday in May? Damned straight! A few other notes: A lot of these shippers coming in here in search of Graded Stakes money for the Derby were a huge disappointment. Real Dandy picked up some pieces to finish fourth, but the maiden Canteen, Rush Bay, the aforementioned Wild Desert (PVal up), and Cat Shaker need to go home and stay there. Another local horse, Batson Challenge led through 3/4, but finished last and lameness in his left front caused him to be vanned off the track. Pletcher put the best face he could on Flower Alley's second-place finish, but the truth is he was simply blown away by AA and could claim no more than best-of-the-rest.

When the smoke had cleared Jeromy Rose's win aboard AA also won him the season's jockey title by one victory over Calvin Borel. 48-47. AA won $600,000 out of the million dollar purse, plus another $50,000 side bet from Daniel Borislow, owner of Wild Desert who had a match race bet between his horse and AA. (Wild Desert didn't lift a foot the entire race.) $13,012,123 was bet on Derby day from all sources, and $4.2 million of that was on-track.

Did I miss anything? ;)

[Figman]

Yes, you did miss something.
Do they still serve those "Oaklawn Burgers" in the infield on Arkansas Derby Day?

I haven't been to Oaklawn in years but what great memories I have for Oaklawn and Hot Springs from a six-year period of my life when I was a regular there! It was everyday at Saratoga in the Summer and every day at Oaklawn in the Winter. What a life that was!

[Lasix1]

Yes, you did miss something.
Do they still serve those "Oaklawn Burgers" in the infield on Arkansas Derby Day?

I haven't been to Oaklawn in years but what great memories I have for Oaklawn and Hot Springs from a six-year period of my life when I was a regular there! It was everyday at Saratoga in the Summer and every day at Oaklawn in the Winter. What a life that was!
They've still got 'em, Figman. The infield on Derby day is like a county fair-- tents, a playground for the kids, and those luscious burgers. Didn't have it last year because it rained about 6 inches and the infield was a quagmire. But 61,000+ showed up anyway to watch Smarty Jones. But this year with perfect weather they made up for it, and, as I reported, 71,010 passed through the gates to make the scene and watch as Afleet Alex blew the doors off a very good field.

Inside the track, they still have those shrimp the size of lobster tails ($12.95 for half a dozen which adds up to probably a 1/2 lb. of shrimp) and a dozen oysters on the half shell for the same price. Up in the Carousel they have an all-day buffet with roast beef, corned beef, bread pudding with bourbon sauce, ladies with KD-type hats and an atmosphere that takes you back to the 30's. I've never been to Saratoga, but I hear it is so expensive now that it's taken some of the steam out of the experience. But I still want to go before I shuffle off this mortal coil.

On opening weekend the horseman foot the bill for prices rolled back to the turn of the last century. 50-cent corned beef sandwiches, dime hot dogs, and lots of beer. They come out in droves. The last several seasons, Oaklawn attendance for opening weekend has beaten every other track in the country.

So get back down here, let me know, and we'll go on a nostalgia trip to Oaklawn together. As they say here, it's racing the way it used to be. :)

[PaceAdvantage]

Chamber-of-Commerce weather brought out the second largest crowd in Arkansas Derby history---71,010, less than 200 short of the 1986 record of 71,203. A ton of them were sitting in the infield and it was a good thing, too, because every passage way inside this 100-year-old track was a roiling sea of humanity all day long.

And they say Thoroughbred Racing is a dying sport....

[Lasix1]

And they say Thoroughbred Racing is a dying sport....
Right on, PA. Racing is hardly dying, At least not in Arkansas.

The paper today indicated that Oaklawn finished the season up in every category except total handle, and the only reason they were down in that one is that they were one of the first tracks to pull their signal from some of those slimy off-shore outlets--and a few in this country as well--that were engaged in computer-generated bets that were giving their customers an advantage over other bettors.

Every other category was up:

Attendance: +3.1%
On-Track Handle: +1.9%
Instant Racing +134%
Simulcast Handle: +10.2%
All-Source Handle: +2.5%

As a result, purses were raised twice during the 55-day season, and finished at an average of $263,000 per day. This included several races with purses over $100,000, the Apple Blossom with a $500,000 purse, the Oaklawn Handicap with another $500,000 purse--and probably a record crowd that day had Ghostzapper not pulled out due to illness--and culminating with the $1,000,000 Arkansas Derby.

Not bad for a 100-year-old track in the middle of nowhere struggling to conduct business in a "dying" sport. ;)