Kentucky Derby News
 

It is now two months to the Derby and all that is left is the 100 point races and the Lexington. Before I get to the breaking news I think we as a group need to make a decision. There will be a ton of news over the next eight weeks. Do we want one big thread that has all the information in one spot, from very small news to big news like a horse off the Derby trail. I think one thread instead of possibly 50 would be better but it is not up to me.

So Derby news just broke! First, this which isn't surprising. Chad Brown says he is going to run Domestic Product once more as it will give him the best opportunity to run big in the Derby. Now for the big news. Jose D'Angelo, the trainer of No More Time said this. "I'd probably like to bring him in fresh and arrive at Churchill early." Wow, so he is going to train him up to the Derby. :bang: How good does this guy think he is, the next Bob Baffert! :lol: Richard Violette tried the layoff route in 2004 with Read the Footnotes and it was a disaster, running 7th. So will it be with this one.

The good news for us bettors is that it brings us one step closer to riches. If he makes it into the starting gate we no longer have to handicap 20 horses, now it is down to 19 as No More Time won't be in the top five.

The Remsen is producing all the prep winners...There is nothing eligible from CA that is worth a shot at CD...Pletcher's lot has either been horrendous or can't make the starting gate...

Better wait for the Dubai Derby results & scour the filly division for contenders.

They still have the European & Japanese Roads to the Derby?

Too bad the Derby Trial (Pat Day Mile) is now run on the undercard instead of the week before...we coulda used another Big Al's Express.

I always thought, in the musings of my younger days, that if I had a Derby contender I would want to run in the Trial and get that race over the track, which is usually a plus factor. :ThmbUp:

The race on the fake stuff at TP. The winner of that race gets a berth.




Despite no real horses from the west (due to Baffert's ban and divisional monopoly working in tandem) and no real standout or ultra-fast horses (yet), ...this is still a pretty entertaining "road".
For one thing the Japanese are going like gangbusters, and one of these years they are going to win it. Plus some of these lightly races horses look promising, whether or not they can pull it al together by May (e.g. Deterministic, Just a Touch, etc.).

El Grand O might clean up in future NY races, Track Phantom is consistent- maybe a helluva future miler. Catching Freedom has promise. Etc.

Lots to like on the Derby trail this year...




I mainly read and don't post, but I vote for one thread.

The road to the Derby just got a lot harder for those going in the Arkansas Derby as Baffert has announced Muth is heading there and Maynum will stay to run in the Santa Anita Derby. With Timberlake set also the top two spots may already be taken!

Jeff Ruby winner Endlessly most likely skipping the Derby according to his trainer and pointing to the turf race on the undercard.

Timberlake
 

Timberlake out of the Kentucky Derby.

Not completely shocking after his odd trip and flop in the Arkansas Derby, but this is a horse that had 81 points and a guaranteed spot in the gate.

https://www.drf.com/news/timberlake-...kentucky-derby

“Based on the performance over the weekend, we are not going to run in the Kentucky Derby,” Cox said. “We are thinking about cutting him back in distance.

“He came out of it in good order, very sound, and ships back to Churchill Downs today. We still feel it’s in his best interest not to try a mile and a quarter in four and a half weeks.”

Cox said the decision was made Tuesday with owners WinStar Farm and Siena Farm.

Timberlake ranked fifth in points for the Kentucky Derby with 81. He won last year’s Grade 1 Champagne and launched his 3-year-old season in the Rebel. He is a winner of 3 of 7 starts and $1.1 million.

I like this decision of doing right for the horse.

Sounds like a song and dance to me……

Hey buddy, I love reading your posts but I have to respectfully disagree with you and Cox. What are you two saying, that this horse can't run three times in SIX months? Give me a break! Then explain to me how Just Steel, who kicked Timberlake's ass will be making his 12th start in under a year. Is it because Lukas is a world class trainer and Cox is clueless?

Any horse that goes head to head with a talented Baffert horse is committing suicide, and it is even more suicide, if there is such a thing, when a stretch runner tries to do it. Timberlake had very little chance of being around at the finish. He deserves another shot in the Derby with the correct trip. Have no clue why he is being pulled from the Derby. I don't buy Cox answer one bit.

Well apparently the connections of Endlessly have changed their mind and are now pointing him to the Derby. This doesn't surprise me, the problem is the trainer just said he doesn't train well on the dirt and he hasn't ever run on it. If he goes that is an easy toss for me!

Yep. In the Arkansas Derby thread, I likened Timberlake's profile to that of Mandaloun.

I guess I should have been smarter & guessed Cox would follow the Instant Coffee route (no race for nearly a year)...

At least Catching Freedom already wears blinkers so he can't pull an Angel of Empire on that one.

Last time McCarthy and his owners had a difference of opinion on where to run his TC eligible horse - those owners made him pass on the Derby and run Rombauer in the Preakness. Worked out OK.;)

I tend to agree with Barch on this one. The negatives zico mentioned sound like $2 across, at least, to me. :p Some inclusion in some exotics. Nothing wrong with getting the Derby Fever.

The Ruby Steaks recently has been sending out some nice runners beyond the narrow range of the Triple Crown. So I like the call here. My pal Richie Strike was only a couple years ago. :jump:

i have a 3 year old filly that officially will not qualify for the triple crown.. she has yet to see her first race!

Timberlake shouldn't have been racing until he was ready to do things necessary to win at the grade 1 level. He wasn't competent running in the stretch even when he won. When he did change leads in the last few hundred yards of the Rebel, he showed he is a horse capable of running in grade 1's at distances of a mile to mile and an eighth. So the cut in distance is a head scratcher for me. I just think he was rushed in his development.