[i]Tight Ten[/i] is now a perfect five(5) for five(5) bad trips. I can imagine FrankD hurling his Irish Coffee across the room to shatter in the blazing fireplace as he watched the snow fall upstate and jockey Santana play pinball out of the starting gate. Then bumper cars down the back straight and all the while losing ground where ever possible before tossing in the towel late. Next time?

Michel Beychok's [i]Malpais[/i] (is that a Cajun term/name) took the lead as BitPlayer predicted in very pedestrian early fractions of 24[sup]1[/sup] and 49[sup]1[/sup] only to fall apart and finish an increasing 33 lengths behind the winner beating only one, who was ironically, [i]Mo Speed[/i] sad to say he was a DNF. The price was there @ 18/1. Next time, and back to sprinting?

I can now longer assert [i]Tackett[/i] has done nothing wrong. Bravo Joe rode him early as if he genuinely thought he had a win contender. Not exactly Mike Smith wide but too wide while trying to stay in contact with the front runners. His stopping in the stretch is worrisome.

Honorable Mention - BitPlayer identified both [i]Hog Creek Hustle[/i] and [i]Manny Wah[/i] both of which ran well and I expect we'll see them again despite their curious names. [i]HCH[/i] perceived as possibly distance limited ran as if he can go even further and my notion of end of the line for iron horse [i]Manny Wah[/i] was not yet son.

Of my three(3) choices, luckily my number one scratched and that was a win for me. Both [i]Plus Que Parfait[/i] and [i]Chase The Ghost[/i] showed gate speed that surprised me. I suppose it was necessitated by outside post positions. I really like the motion of both horses and thought I was on something good as they ran together all the way to the top of the stretch. They then finished evenly but not the [i]Mine That Bird[/i] finish I was hoping for. I expect both to be back in the next FG derby prep or maybe Oaklawn.

Then there was the winner. To be fair [i]War of Will[/i] ran a good race in reasonable time. It's just that I soured on him after watching his beats on turf in the Breeders Cup and the prep for same. However, getting swallowed up by those going to be beasts doesn't really compare to carrying ones speed over dirt at a long mile.

Lastly I liked the card. Full races of a dozen horses each even when they are maiden races sure beats the offering of some other venues. All hail Roy H. I'm thinking BitPlayer just may have cashed a ticket ot two. Happy New Year Frank! Stay tuned Pegasus and Dubai not to far off.