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View Full Version : Eskendereya Passing Fla. Derby; Awaits Wood

levinmpa
03-16-2010, 04:16 PM
Steve Haskin just announced this on At the Races with Steve Byk and posted the on bloodhorse.com.

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/55925/eskendereya-passing-fla-derby-awaits-wood
joanied
03-16-2010, 04:30 PM
Smart move, IMO.

(I think this thread should be at the Triple Crown section :) )
andtheyreoff
03-16-2010, 04:34 PM
Wood should be a good matchup now, with Eskendereya, Lookin at Lucky (maybe), and Awesome Act, and Odessyus (maybe). Very deep field.
cj
03-16-2010, 04:42 PM
It is really sad what has happened to racing these days...or should I say, race-once-in-a-whiling.
levinmpa
03-16-2010, 04:59 PM
It is really sad what has happened to racing these days...or should I say, race-once-in-a-whiling.

Kind of like the way MLB teams baby their pitchers. They reach 100 pitches and they're out of the game. What happened to guys finishing games, and what happened to horses that had good 2YO foundations and more than 2 preps as a 3YO? Check out the record of the last Triple Crown winner, Affirmed, prior to the Derby. They certainly didn't baby him.
Spalding No!
03-16-2010, 05:11 PM
It is really sad what has happened to racing these days...or should I say, race-once-in-a-whiling.

It's interesting how many variables have come to the fore to pretty much destroy the concept of regionality, particularly as it concerns the Derby trail.

Synthetics have annihilated CA and KY as prime spots to prep a 3yo.

Ease and abundance of equine transport has made it easier for trainers to call audibles pick their spots at the last minute.

Racing secretaries have deconstructed their stakes schedules such that there is no logical progression between prep races at a single track. Also, because of the transport issue, Derby preps thousands of miles apart actually compete for horses, thus an unstable schedule for the key preps, which one year might be 3 weeks from the Derby and 5 weeks the next.

The advent of the supertrainer has concentrated Derby prospects into the hands of a chosen few, who like Pletcher, handle up to 5 or 6 candidates and route and reroute them for a variety of reasons.