the best horse won

[mountainman]

Originally Posted by thaskalos

IMO...the "sharp and profitable handicappers" remain "sharp and profitable" because they don't do ANYTHING "historically". Every race has a unique nature...and has to be looked at as a solitary event -- with unique characteristics. The same "perfect trip" argument against Always Dreaming was proposed after his Florida Derby victory...but this didn't prevent the "perfect trip" from materializing again in the Derby.

The most important determination to make ISN'T in criticizing the "perfect trip" that a particular horse enjoyed in a given race. It's in determining whether or not substantial factors exist which could prevent this "perfect trip" from occurring again NEXT TIME.

Sharp Post. At what point did clean, victorious trips earned by virtue of tactical speed, tractability, and finishing kick become suspect??? It's somehow become fashionable among "experts" to dismiss stalking scores as some inevitable (and undeserved) consequence of sitting close to the speed(s), while getting first run on the closers. News flash: Thats what good horses DO. And VERY good ones do it REPEATEDLY.

Running styles, trips, race-flow, and bias are all big parts of my handicapping, but the contest nowadays to see who can burrow more deeply into the minutiae of thoroughbred voyages has, in some cases, become an illusionary, self-created world conducive to arcane, irrelevant observations inapplicable to a horse's subsequent starts.

[cj]

Originally Posted by Fager Fan

Five favs in row won the Derby. The fav has won the Derby every year since they implemented the new points system which took out sprinter speed. The first TC winner after a 4 decade drought came after the new point system. They said during the telecast that if AD won, it'd be the first time in the history of the race 5 favs in row won.

Has CD unwittingly changed the race, with requirements or a system no other race in the world has which targets keeping top speed out of the race, and is it for the better?

To be fair the very first year featured and insane pace and set it up for Orb, a horse that turned out to be not all that. It isn't like horses are walking on the lead either. The pace is generally still pretty darn fast.

I'd personally rather the best horses win than get horses like Mine that Bird and Giacomo.

[cj]

Originally Posted by upthecreek

Did i read the chart right AD paid $4.40 in pool 1 and $7 in pool 2? But you got $11.40 Derby Day? Or am I a knucklehead?

He was part of the mutuel field, right?

[upthecreek]

Especially like the one on Hence

Twitter

[upthecreek]

Originally Posted by cj

He was part of the mutuel field, right?

I have no idea but I think he was listed as #24 , so your probably right

[classhandicapper]

Always Dreaming breezed this morning (7/1).

I'm very interested to see what this horse can do going forward. I'm in the camp that thinks his Derby was quite good and that he went off form in the Preakness and not that he got a golden rail setup in the Derby and the Preakness exposed him.