Verifying was probably a hair too close to that fast pace. That may account for why he didn't finish well, but nothing about that performance suggests Derby.
Reincarnate usually has some positional speed, but the
and
crossed in from of him soon out of the gate. At that point Velasquez seemed to just let the horse run on his own and take back instead of trying for something in the middle. It's not like being back there was any disadvantage anyway, especially considering he saved ground on a day the rail was good.
The race was loaded with speed, the fractions were fast, the top 4 early all ran Beyers below their best (2 of which were longshots), and the top 3 came from well off the pace. You can always nitpick individual performances, but I think it's pretty clear that race set up for a closer.
