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[Spalding No!]

This "mother" may have Danzig written all over it.

Heading towards the Kentucky Derby, the principles have suspect bloodlines for 10 furlongs.

Improbable, by City Zip, may have exposed distance limitations when looking loaded at the top of the stretch of the Rebel, only to get reeled in by Long Range Toddy in the final furlong.

Game Winner, by Candy Ride, has a strong bottom side for stamina, and although he closes steadily since stretching to two turns, there is no denying he has to be worked over to get in gear, lacking a strong turn of foot that is often necessary in the classics. Not the typical Baffert running style either.

We also have two colts by War Front, a sprinter by the great Danzig. Danzig offspring could at times see out 10 furlongs, but were at their best at a flat mile. Omaha Beach, who held on desperately in the Rebel, had to cut back to a sprint to break his maiden in his 5th start and looks far from certain to see out even 9 furlongs.

War of Will also took 5 starts to break his maiden, and like Omaha Beach wasted some time on the turf, but since has been on a monumental tear, winning his last 3 by open lengths. However, the chinks in the armor started to show last out. While his rider has been able to position him advantageously, War of Will has been eager and on the bit in the early stages. He cleared off strongly at the top of the stretch in the Risen Star only to shorten stride a bit through the stretch. Had the late running Country House been able to maintain a straight course, we might have seen a similar stretch run to the first division of the Rebel. Instead, the former lugged in badly and War of Will appeared to win more comfortably than he probably did.

That said, the front-running corps is light in this field, with the Exchange Rate (another son of Danzig) colt Lemniscate coming off a wire job on the grass perhaps the most likely pacesetter. He showed good speed in a couple of sprint tries and with an inside draw seems to have a free lane straight to the front at least into the first turn.

Spinoff, a son of Hard Spun (yet another sire son of Danzig) blitzed a light field on or near the lead in his comeback at Tampa. He looked a bit green in the process, but was stretching out for the first time while coming off the bench. He ran a couple of good races during the summer as a 2yo then went on the shelf, so he's playing catch-up, but the profile hasn't stopped horses like I'll Have Another, Silver Charm, Danza, or Proud Citizen from making a dent on the Derby trail in the past. Worked sharply since and hails from a freakish if fragile female family. Could prove tough for War of Will to get away from especially with the added 1/16th to deal with.

Limonite is bred to run all day and was basically blocked or in tight from the 3/16th pole to midstretch in the Risen Star. He might outrun his odds and improve form off his last with a cleaner run. He performed admirably against the likes of top juvenile Signalman in a couple of starts last year. A bit more appeal than the suspect Country House in my opinion, although all the closers are up against with the dearth of true front-running pace lining up here.