There will be a lot of talk about ground loss and various misfortunes suffered by different horses in KY, but you just watched a very fast grinder sit slightly wide off the pace and keep rolling like the bunny. He won't get into trouble the way many of the others did because he won't ever be far behind, in a pack.

Matz is to be congratulated for saving something for the next two races. Most of the horses behind him on Saturday put on more miles and stress in their preps and are likely to flatten out even more in the Preakness.

I don't recall Matz saying this horse NEEDED the time between races, just that it didn't matter. If he read the horse correctly he was determined to have him ready for the 5 week grind, not just the Derby. This was not Smarty Jones who carried his hard earned peak as far as he could. This one is getting better.