Audible.
Beautiful horse. Visually impressive.
form rundown:
Debut StatebredMSW 6.5f -
Green early, really
moving well late.
2nd start StatebredMSW 1M- 4/5 fav. Deep stalking/closing style. Looked the winner for most of the race, gradually circled the field. JV kept busy, a bit too
workman-like of an effort for a Derby winner. Looked like a paid workout.
3rd start OC 1M
(off turf) (4 horse field) - 1/5 fav. Another paid workout. Even got a horse to open up and set a 'target'. Took Audible until entering the stretch to overtake. That rival did not go on in the stretch, but Audible did look
visually impressive in the
stretch run.
4th start G2 Holy Bull S. 1 1/16M - Wasn't really a top derby prep. Enticed didn't show up. I don't like Free Drop Billy. Castellano with a great ride on Audible- hard urged out of the gate, then floated others while entering the first turn,
sat in 'the pocket' 3rd... A couple cheap horses opened up mid-race, no one else made a middle move(Enticed we mean you), and then Audible
inherited the lead entering the stretch with only a harmless Free Drop Billy on his flank. He did look
visually impressive in the stretch.
Have to give him some credit. He fired. He does a nice job of maintaining his speed through the stretch run. As stated, I think his position in this race was better than we'll tend to see.
Derby Prep G1 Florida Derby 9F -
Pace collapse. Catholic Boy didn't show up. Audible again was fortunate from the gate to establish position. Squandered that position on the
backstretch while
moving a bit sluggish, but that only helped him late in the race as any part of the field moving early was punished. Hofburg (My 'key' in the race) mirrored him with a slightly worse, but very similar 2nd. This isn't so much a note of less regarded horse, but of the pace dynamics. Another very
nice stretch run from Audible. Watching him run through the stretch looked like a Derby winner.
Workouts - His
mediocre cruising speed, and need to be kept busy is very evident in workouts. A typical workout also isn't long enough to show off his stretch running stamina (also not getting dream setups in workouts!). The Vino Rossi work I think revealed some things about Audible. And at the end(1:31) he was temporarily able to make a short move and close the gap when urged, although Vino Rossi held the advantage.
https://www.xbtv.com/video/audible/0_q6drxg68/
Final thoughts - I don't think he can get into a winning position in the Kentucky Derby. If he has an otherwise good trip, he can be rolling late and passing tired rivals. He scares me, but I can't use 'em all on top.
