Kentucky Confidential, new site up for Derby

[Grits]

http://kentuckyconfidential.com/2011/04/28/the-inside-scoop-why-calvin-borel-owns-the-rail/

Claire Novak writes a fine piece on what gives the man his name.

(Nice new site to check into for the next few days.)

[CBedo]

“The angles and the points and being in the right position when it’s time to get inside and move your horse through, he just knows all that."

As I have ranted many times when my betting interest is in a perfect spot and the pinhed jockey decides to swing him wide and loses ground, every jockey should have to pass a geometry test before he rides a horse! :bang:

[Patrick333]

Very nice site. Thanks for sharing.

[Grits]

Again from Kentucky Confidential--this piece featuring horses' herd instincts with a look at 16 of the Derby entries.

Some may find it of great interest. What comes to us naturally can often be, when remembering some of our instincts are greater than others.

Guys, its the Derby, use everything available! Then, too, you could be taking a chance--your mind being screwed up even further. Or, you could win huge at the windows on Saturday with added reading. We don't ever know!!

http://kentuckyconfidential.com/2011/05/02/kerry-thomas-the-herd-whisperer/

“The Kentucky Derby is a prime example. You’ve got 20 horses, and they’re not used to that. They leave [the gate] and the jockeys are nervous, and all of the sudden they group up and funnel into that first turn, and it’s the only race where you’ll see really good horses get beat 14,15, 20 lengths … for some reason with all the excitement going on, all the bumping, and everybody is trying to fight for position in a huge field, some of these horses’ adrenalin kicks in. They must think, ‘There’s a lion chasing us.’ And you’ll have jockeys tell you, ‘By the time I got to the half-mile pole I was empty.’ That to me is where the herd dynamic comes in.” — Three-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert talking to Kerry Thomas, founder of the Thomas Herding Technique.