The case is along these lines. The problem resulting from the "ear incident" was thought to have been resolved, which explained his big jump up in the Ill Derby. He trained phenomenally leading into the Ky Derby which, along with the fact that he is as magnificent a looking racehorse as you're ever going to see, is why he was the wiseguy underlay horse. He refused to run after being hit when the gate opened, very much in keeping with his nature. He trained very well again coming into the Bel & was unlikely to run into trouble in a 6 horse field in a 10 furlong race. His trainer, one of the best in the game, is very conservative about entering & shipping for TC races. He was 9-1.

The more interesting thing to me at this pt is how one interprets the stretch drive. As I saw it, EM did not switch leads and TMW shied when he got along side. TMW looked to me to be, & at the very least to have the potential to be, the better horse. Someone who's opinion I respect a great deal is of the different view that EM intimidated TMW, and that the order of finish would not have changed if they had gone around a 2nd time. I'm thinking that if Dollase figures out a way to make TMW a little more aggressive, then the match race in the Travers may not involve the two horses most people are currently concentrating on.