Bobphilo said

"... the discussion (of the San Raphael) has raised the issues of the relative effects of conditioning v ground loss v pace v lack of early pace pressure v pseudo pressure..."

All of this discussion spawned by a FOUR HORSE RACE?!? Sounds more like cabin fever than Derby fever to me, or maybe paralysis by quasi over-analysis.

But if you insist on talking Derby in the middle of January, is JD Bailey's retirement a vote of no confidence for First Samurai? (A nice homage was written to Bailey by Silver Charm on this board last night; after all is said and done, Bailey for all of his greatness, will be remembered as the second best rider ever born in the state of Texas).

Back to a certain malodorous melodist: Mark Kriegel, in his bio of Joe Namath, said that Namath's toughest opponent in the Jets' 1969 championship season was not the Raiders defensive line but Janis Joplin. JJ was not a Namath girl-- she was neither winsome nor statuesque-- but she was smitten by Broadway Joe; her handlers were persistent in trying to make a coupling between the jock and the rocker come to pass. Just to rid themselves of the aggravation, Namath's handlers convinced him to accommodate JJ-- an accommodation which was only accomplished with the help of a river of Tequila.

Also from the Kriegel bio: Sonny Werblin sent his friend, legendary Racing Form columnist Joe Hirsch, to meet Namath at Tropical Park at the end of Namath's senior year (the two Joes would later become famous roommates in Manhattan). At their first meeting, Hirsch cynically commented to Namath "You must have majored in something tough at Alabama, like basket weaving"

Namath's reply: "Nah, that class was filled up, but I found an even easier one--Journalism."