Runaway Russy and some of the others who ran in the 1-1/4 race at Aqueduct on the day of the Wood (the only other 2 turn race that day?)are running back at Belmont today. I expect that CTC will be watching intently, and will file a full report.

CTC, it would have brought you great GLORY to have left the colt you call Bellamania off your list of 7 likely and unlikely winners ("Glory is fleeting"/G. Patton; "Glory is fleeting, but anonymity is forever"/N. Bonaparte)

Go back to your gang of 7, get them out of alpha order and give the fans what they want- the Clown King of the 05 Derby. Most likely winner on top. If you are witholding this selection because you think you will kill any value, you are only slightly delusional.

We know how fast BR is (or we will know after Run Russy races this evening); we know how sharp BR looks and how eagerly BR has galloped this week; we know that if Michael Dickinson still had BR, he would be making his 3YO debut in a 1-1/8 mile turf race at Colonial about a week after the Belmont Stakes.

Enough already.

What we dont know is if BR has any heart or competitive spirit. In BR's maiden race at Del, he spent some time behind horses before winning off as he pleased. In his other 3 romps, it seems like BR established dominance over his competitors almost instantaneously.

Is BR a fast enough gate horse to establish early domination? I would say no, and there are others faster. Will BR be behind and between horses for what will seem like to him an extended period of time? Probably.

How BR acts at that point, when he is in and among horses running as fast or nearly as fast as him for the first time, will determine whether we have another beaten Derby favorite or a short price heading to Baltimore.



Post Edited (05-06-05 15:03)