Re: Rating The Derby Prep Races & My Short List (688 Views)
Posted by:
JJP (IP Logged)
Date: April 19, 2006 01:55PM
The one race rating I'd disagree on is the Wood. The Wood was probably weaker than the Gotham. Considering how the Wood was run (fast early, crawl late), the horse that did the most running was Keyed Entry, who was the runnerup in the Gotham. The 3rd place horse in the Gotham (and arguably the best) was Sweetnorthernsaint, who passed on the Wood for the Illinois Derby. Throw in Achilles of Troy, who was a close 4th in the Gotham and was injured and didn't run in the Wood. So you add Jazil, who basically picked up the pieces to pass tired horses, and Bob & John, a decent, but not top level SoCal horse. Yes, the Gotham, the supposed prep, was tougher than the Wood.