Re: Five Weeks Rest (362 Views)
Posted by:
Silver Charm (IP Logged)
Date: April 03, 2005 02:51PM
If he ran back to his top, then I don't really know how much faster he needs to run.
So far nobody has run faster than he has at a Mile and an Eighth. And if they do with an extra week or two development does that mean this trainer can't get this horse to move forward.
Sun King has won once around two turns and that was at Tampa Downs. A filly will be the horse to beat in the Santa Anita Derby. There is a wagon load of people who love both those two. People on ESPN yesterday were still calling Sort it Out a Derby contender.
The Five Weeks Rest debate came about when I heard two completely different opinions from two very smart handicappers. Jeff Siegal stated yesterday that one could perhaps ignore the layoff discussion going into the Derby because in most cases it probably was an indication of soundness or lack thereof. I agree, and with the major Derby Preps traditionally being only two to three weeks out from the Derby, who was bypassing those big races. Nobody with a fit horse. And yet only a couple of weeks ago I heard Kurt Hoover state that after last year he was convinced nobody could come into the Derby off a layoff and win.
Who is right.
I will admit that a Prep three weeks or two weeks out does have a horse on the muscle Derby Day. And when it was won by a Calif shipper coming in off the four week break the horse usually had a trainer (Whittingham and Baffert) who put their campaigners thru some serious drills between then and Derby Day.
One thing is for sure in regards to the Five Weeks Rest, Zito isn't guessing and most handicappers will be.