I had both sets of Derby sheets and read the analysis by booth TGJB and Robspierre and I actually would call it a dead heat.

Naturally Robes' opinions were mushy as hell, but if you tossed his weak endorsment of Supah Blitz, he gave you the Deby tri in a 4-horse box. But he didn't like the race, wageringwise.

TGJB's churlishness on the SoCal numbers earned a big demerit when the results seemed to confirm the weakness of the SA Derby. But he did well on Funny Cide (BTW, I grew up three doors down in Delmar, N.Y. from syndicate member Gus Williams, a beer-drinking retired contractor) and Peace Rules. He seemed more negative on Empire Maker than Robes but at least added the VERY good comment about Jerry riding him like he was the superior animal.

I personally have no regrets on the Derby itself. I had the tri and the exacta, fairly lightly, but, following TGJB's advice, was spread for a great result if EM ran out. (Cide was one of my keys) A second for Peace Rules or a better trip for Atswhat and I would have had a nice score.

Alas, I would have really been poised for a great score had I spread every so slightly more in the Early Times; when devising my pick-4s, I fell back into "old-think" on the winner -- bad post, first time in a Grade 1, simply can't win....woulda, shoulda coulda...

Anyway, I will concentrate next year on Derby Pick 3s and pick 4s because it's (generally) so much easier to eliminate those who CAN'T win that to sort out your 2nd and 3rd place horses.