Can American Pharoah Get the Mile and a Half

[Tor Ekman]

AP will fade just enough to be nailed at the wire, and the irony will be that it's Desormeaux with a perfect ride on Keen Ice as the "villain" who denies AP the Triple Crown

[ArlJim78]

As much as I'd love to see it happen, the closer I look at it the shakier I think his chances are at 12 furlongs. The extra 2 furlongs may be what ends up erasing his other advantages.
He can do it but I think he needs a nice soft pace and the his margin for error may not be very great at all.
Frosted is the one that would concern me most.

[PhantomOnTour]

Madefromlucky is the one, esp if Pletcher's two other speed types stay in the race.
The game plan is obvious.

This colt's pedigree is fantastic for the Belmont, he has enough speed to lay within striking distance, stablemates keep Pharoah busy for a mile or so...grinding type runner can get it done.

[Tom]

I think he could get 12 furlongs with me riding him!

[classhandicapper]

I'm not a big fan of horses that show sprint caliber early speed also trying to get 12 furlongs. Not many horses have both that level of brilliance and that level of stamina (Seattle Slew was one).

If we wins, I think it's going to be crawlfest late where he outlasts other horses that also don't want 12F.

If he wins big and finishes strongly then I think we need to start throwing around the word "great".

[Lemon Drop Husker]

Frosted and Materiality were probably running the best late in the Derby, and they came from nowhereville in the Derby after some soft fractions up front.

Madefromlucky, Frammento, Keen Ice, Mubtaahij, and Tale of Verve can all also be factors. Even Carpe could rebound off of a massively disappointing Derby.

A lot of quality horses have waited to take their shot at AP here again. He is going to get as stern a test as any that have failed over the last near 40 years.

[ronsmac]

Originally Posted by classhandicapper

I'm not a big fan of horses that show sprint caliber early speed also trying to get 12 furlongs. Not many horses have both that level of brilliance and that level of stamina (Seattle Slew was one).

If we wins, I think it's going to be crawlfest late where he outlasts other horses that also don't want 12F.

If he wins big and finishes strongly then I think we need to start throwing around the word "great".

People are already throwing around the word great, even if they don't realize they're saying it yet.