Super Derby - Looks Very Competitive

[xfile]

The mutuels in this race should pay well (at first glance at least) :ThmbUp:
Two sprinters join cast for Super Derby
The pace of Saturday afternoon's Grade 2, $750,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs got quicker on Tuesday after The Daddy flew in with four other hopefuls for the race, and Military Major joined the field for owner George Steinbrenner.

Both horses will be stretching out around two turns for the 1 1/4-mile Super Derby. Military Major worked five furlongs in a bullet 58.40 seconds in his final prep Monday. The Daddy, who won his maiden over six furlongs in 1:09, faced Lost in the Fog last out, and finished fourth to him in the Grade 1 King's Bishop. He arrived aboard a plane that also brought Desert Breeze, Nolan's Cat, Real Dandy, and Smokescreen to Shreveport, La. The flight originated in New York, and stopped off in Kentucky. They are part of a 10-horse field expected for the Super Derby. The other probables are A.P. Arrow, Kilates Kiss, Royal Saint, and Silver Haze. Key Issues, winner of the Minnesota Derby, had been under consideration, but will pass the race, his trainer, Gilbert Ciavaglia, said Tuesday.

[toetoe]

I think Key Issues would be a lock in the Rhode Island Derby, or even against older in the Anchorage Cup.

Doesn't the La. Downs track get very wacky sometimes? Can't recall whether it was Valhol, but somebody won at Arcangues-like odds in the SD, and it was generally accepted that the track was severely biased. It wasn't just a bunch of us Yankees picking on Dixie, was it?

[Wiley]

Toe,
Over the years the Super Derby has been a pretty formful race and a good prep for the BC Classic. In past years the problem with the race is usually there is one or at most two big horses in the race that take all of the money and run to it. Think Sunny's Halo, '84 Precisionist and Gate Dancer, Creme Fraiche, Seeking the Gold, Sunday Silence, Unbridled, Concern, and Tiznow.
You might be thinking of the Arkansas Derby win by Valhol - won as a maiden in the slop at 30-1 or so - that was the Billy Patin buzzer race. Valhol did not win the Super Derby.

[Valuist]

Once upon a time this race did draw some of the top 3YOs in the country. Definitely not the case this year. Of course beyond Afleet Alex and Lost in the Fog, there are no stars.

[cnollfan]

Doesn't the La. Downs track get very wacky sometimes? Can't recall whether it was Valhol, but somebody won at Arcangues-like odds in the SD, and it was generally accepted that the track was severely biased. It wasn't just a bunch of us Yankees picking on Dixie, was it?

In 1990, I think, Free Spirit's Joy won the Super Derby at 50-1, hugging the rail with Calvin Borel (the best rail rider in history). The track was severely biased that day and the California jockeys like Eddie D. etc. had the famous horses like Lite Light out in the middle of the track.

Louisiana Downs hasn't had a severe and lasting bias in recent years, though.

[toetoe]

Thanks, cnoll. Just proves that my 'local knowledge' is useless 15 years later. That can be a lesson to us in real life, I guess. Something my friend or familial did in 1979? Let it go, man. Move on.

[Wiley]

The Daddy is intriguing. He'll use the 'catch me if you can' strategy. The spot looks very ambitious bumping to a mile and a quarter off only a 7 F prep and only a 6 F workout on record. Granted the competition is marginal but to wire in this situation looks difficult without a good conditioning base. If he had at least one 1 1/16 race in him he would be my pick...here I don't know unless he is exceptional. Gonzalez has a decent stretch out record and his breeding is route weak on top but he gets a lot of stamina on the bottom With Approval/Vaguely Noble DI 2.11, CD 0.50 Could like the grass. If you play him you'll have fun for maybe a mile after that I don't know. Albarado stays in New York with only a couple of mounts, no biggies though. Desert Breeze wears him down for the win.

[xfile]

The mutuels in this race should pay well (at first glance at least) :ThmbUp:
Two sprinters join cast for Super Derby
The pace of Saturday afternoon's Grade 2, $750,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs got quicker on Tuesday after The Daddy flew in with four other hopefuls for the race, and Military Major joined the field for owner George Steinbrenner.

I knew this was going to pay well <g> :cool:
8 -The Daddy ......12.80 8.00 6.60
10 -A. P. Arrow ...... 6.20 4.20
2 -Nolan's Cat ......5.80
$2 Exacta 8-10 Paid $101.20
$2 Trifecta 8-10-2 Paid $742.20
$2 Superfecta 8-10-2-4 Paid $16561.20