The Derby

[cees with dees]

Now mind you, since 1972 I've only had two Derby winners, Thunder Gulch and Go For Gin.
This year. despite the bad post, I'm betting Any Given Saturday.
He's been tremenous this year and all in defeat especially in the Wood where he battled an intense inside bias and really held well till very late and not abused at all.
I'll have to suffer(sarchastically) with Garrett Gomez since J.V. opted for Circular Quay but at least I know I have a good chance at getting position and maybe even a neat tuck.
Churchill Downs has the tendancy to be very fast and inside on big days so an inside trip may be mandatory as was the case on last years Breeders Cup day.
Always a fun race to watch and bottom line, no matter who you play, if you happen to catch, you're generally rewarded nicely.
Good luck, have fun and death to polytrack!!!!!!
Ben

[cees with dees]

After handicapping this race and seeing Mike Watchmaker is expecting a big race from my horse, I'm forced to have an alternate and that one is Zanjero.
Forced to run on the fake track in the Blue Grass and run a completely different style than accustomed to, Zanjero comes up to this perfectly and while probably a notch or two below the best of these on ability, he has the option of taking back and saving ground and letting everyone else do the dirty work. He has a tremendous gear and just may be able to pick up all of the pieces at a huge price.
Will definitely have something across the board on him and maybe an exacta play with all the true closers like Great Hunter, Circular Quay, and even though I thought he was a play against originally, Street Sense really fits this race like a glove on style and ability.
Going against all the speed and close closers like Curlin and Nobiz. Expecting this one to be a dead rock closers galore.
Good luck to all.
Ben

[the_fat_man]

Now mind you, since 1972 I've only had two Derby winners, Thunder Gulch and Go For Gin.
This year. despite the bad post, I'm betting Any Given Saturday.
He's been tremenous this year and all in defeat especially in the Wood where he battled an intense inside bias and really held well till very late and not abused at all.
I'll have to suffer(sarchastically) with Garrett Gomez since J.V. opted for Circular Quay but at least I know I have a good chance at getting position and maybe even a neat tuck.
Churchill Downs has the tendancy to be very fast and inside on big days so an inside trip may be mandatory as was the case on last years Breeders Cup day.
Always a fun race to watch and bottom line, no matter who you play, if you happen to catch, you're generally rewarded nicely.
Good luck, have fun and death to polytrack!!!!!!
Ben

Whether I agree with your pick is neither here nor there. I do need to thank you, however, for being the only other person on this or that other forum, to actually NOTICE that there was an INTENSE INSIDE BIAS Wood day.

Which really downgrades NoCount's performance.

I mean, seriously, wasn't it obvious?

[cees with dees]

No need to thank me for an observation but any nice words from anyone are always well received.
Good luck.