Quote:
Originally Posted by horses4courses
 Madhmoon
Odds of close to 10/1 make him worth a small play. |
Ran a huge race to come out on top of the 4-horse blanket finish for 2nd. Good call.
Commentators before the race said it was a wide open affair and they were proved right with the winner getting just a 1/2 length on the rest to avoid an impossible 5-horse photo finish.
The winner, Anthony Van Dyck, was an also-ran in the BC Juvenile Turf last year, making him the second winner in a row (Masar last year) with that odd distinction.
Meanwhile the winner of the BC Juvenile Turf winner, Line of Duty, was well back in the field, just as 2017 winner Mendelssohn toiled in the Kentucky Derby.
Anthony Van Dyck had a somewhat counterintuitive form for a son of Galileo, winning handful of early season juvenile races before going on a declining pattern topped off by the aforementioned BC flop. His comeback victory in his Derby trial over 11.5 furlongs probably erased all concerns for serious fans (he was 4th choice), but for me he was lost in shuffle amid the bevy of Coolmore alternatives.
I wonder if O'Brien will be willing to send any of his other top 5-finishers (Japan, Broome, Sir Dragonet) to the US for the Belmont turf triple. He tends to send his second-tier colts for the NA races but with the exorbitant amount of money being offered by NYRA and the depth of his 3yo stable it would be great if he sent a Group 1-caliber starter (or two).
