With all due respect - thankfully the connections of Square Eddie made that decision to skip. Getting past this immediate shin issue then keep him fit, mentally ready for racing and come back with a solid run at the big races this summer. I wasn’t a big fan of the “derby fever” prompting them to come off the Lexington Coolmore and ‘try’ the Derby.
Among those once pointed to the Derby, off the trail now, but likely to come back and contend one of the other legs of the American Classics: Hello Broadway
Tagg said that Hello Broadway would make his next start in the Grade 2, $200,000 Peter Pan Stakes here on May 9.
“If he runs well there I’ll run him in the Belmont,” Tagg said. “I think he’s a quality horse, he’s just immature. I think he’s the right type of horse for the Belmont.”[June 6]
Regarding Mr Fantasy, half-brother to the late Tin Cup Chalice, his connections will decide until after the Kentucky Derby if they’ll put him into the Preakness. If they skip going to Baltimore, then he’ll race in the G2 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont May 26. As noted before the issue isn’t his running style but rather his fractious nature with large human crowds.
In regards to the Derby Draw - since dropped by ESPN and held downtown - it will be aired lived on HRTV. Entries for the Derby are due on Wednesday morning. Post positions will be selected at noon at Churchill Downs, in a two-step process that will be seen live on HRTV. At first, a traditional blind draw will be held to determine a draft order. Then, a representative from each horse will select their post position.
Todd Pletcher could have four horses in the Derby although not likely all will go in. His Dunkirk only needs one or two rabbits to set some pace 
Pletcher said that if Advice runs, “the leading candidate to ride is Rene Douglas.” If Join in the Dance runs, as expected, “Chris DeCarlo is the leading candidate.” Pletcher said no rider had yet been lined up for Take the Points. Dunkirk is of course without Garrett Gomez and Edgar Prado stepped in. Then again Todd is 0-for-21 in the Run for the Roses. No other trainer has saddled that many horses in the Derby without reaching the winner’s circle.
Weather: The forecast for Saturday is for a 40-percent chance of scattered thunderstorms, and a high temperature of 67 degrees. With sporatic rains, but warm temps, for much of the next few days the track will likely be a bit fast.
Did I miss something? I thought G Gomez was riding Pioneer of the Nile?
FatDinah - you didn’t miss anything Prado is still on Dunkirk for the Derby. The statement on GG riding Dunkirk was lifted in error - and fixed.
If you go by Graded Stakes money the 4-27-09 listing without Square Eddie that moves up Take the Points however his connections are suggesting they’ll pass: “Odds are, Take the Points won’t run in Derby” 4-28-09
“The horse did everything he had to do,” co-owner Don Lucarelli, a Schenectady native, said. "I guess we’ll find out one way or another [today]. I’d be very surprised, myself, but we’ll see.
“If I had to guess, I’d say it’s 75-25, no. But, [today]'s another day.”
Pletcher will have three in the Derby
Confirmed Atomic Rain in, but Take The Points not to be entered:
Pletcher made his decision just before noon on Tuesday. He said Rene Douglas would ride Advice, and Join in the Dance would be ridden by Chris DeCarlo.
Atomic Rain, now 20th on the graded stakes earnings list, will be ridden by Joe Bravo, trainer Kelly Breen said.
Glimmer, I am shocked!! The Met Mile is a G1. I shall have to smack you about the head and neck with a roll of vetwrap!
[QUOTE=Texarkana;4052862]
What Friesan Fire’s impressive time doesn’t tell you is that he slowed dramatically on the gallop out, unlike Rachel Alexandra or Pioneer of the Nile who were ready to go around again.
Just food for thought…[/QUOTE]
Texarkana I agree. That and the work was too fast. No one gets paid for fast works. Whether the horse quit with reason or was geared down by the rider, it was too fast 6,7 days out from 1 1/4 mile race.
Pioneer of the Nile has looked well on the dirt since his arrival. I think Chocolate Candy is slipping in under the radar of who is who.
IWR winning will spark more debate over the lack of ability to play within the rules by the trainer.
I would wish a Cal horse could get this done. It would be good for our little and struggling island.
The post-racing testing … Ocala 4-28-09"UF lab to test Derby horses for drugs"
The [Racing Laboratory at the University of Florida College of Veterinary Medicine] was selected by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission to analyze samples taken after each of 25 races over Derby weekend to assure that none of the horses had been given performance-enhancing drugs.
Kentucky’s head vet, Bryce Peckham, and assistants will take samples of blood and urine from the horses placing first and second, along with any horse that entered the race as a favorite and didn’t run as the officials expected it to, according to Richard Sams, head of UF’s racing lab.
Samples are collected in a secure facility called a detention barn shortly after the race. The samples - 50 or more each of blood and urine - will then travel from Louisville to Gainesville on a flight with one of the racing lab’s 35 employees, Sams said.
Blinkers On, go California horses!
[QUOTE=justalittlex;4056296]
Blinkers On, go California horses![/QUOTE]
Woot woot!!! Just because it hasn’t been done since the artificial tracks were put in, doesn’t mean it can’t be done! We have shipped to conventional dirt with a whole lot of success!!! I’d be thrilled if we got it done!
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;4056322]
New Churchill race-caller Mark Johnson thinks Pioneerof the Nile is ugly.
:winkgrin:[/QUOTE]
Hrmph… 
many great horses as well as Derby winners have been far from halter horse beautiful. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder. He might be a whole lot prettier with the roses on him!
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;4056322]
New Churchill race-caller Mark Johnson thinks Pioneerof the Nile is ugly.
:winkgrin:[/QUOTE]
Well that won’t earn much love from the Zayat crew or BB
New Churchill race-caller Mark Johnson thinks Pioneerof the Nile is ugly.
And if it was a tail judging contest, then maybe he’d be right. Twit.
Hey, maybe it should be a tail judging contest. The tactic has worked for COTHer eggbutt:
So y’all should take note and adjust your handicapping accordingly.
'Just so it’s official, I’m willing to cut Johnson some slack; he concedes beauty has nothing to do with potential athletic ability.
Interesting comments from the DRF’s key clocker: NY Times 4-28-09 “A Clocker Is Waiting for a Derby Workout That Stops Time”
Remarks from Mike Welsch
Welsch liked I Want Revenge’s move Tuesday better than the five-eighths-of-a-mile work last week in 1:01.
“If you liked him coming into the Derby, I Want Revenge has done nothing to make you get off him,” Welsch said. “But, no, he hasn’t separated himself from the others in the morning.”
He says Pioneerof the Nile has trained O.K., but not well enough to inspire fear or confidence. He is curious about Dunkirk, who arrived here Tuesday from Florida. “I want to see him on this track,” he said.
Welsch is befuddled by at least one contender. Friesan Fire, the Louisiana Derby winner, blistered five-eighths of a mile on Monday in 57.80 seconds, which is wicked fast. Welsch, though, did not see that desire to go farther that he had seen in Street Sense.
“You’re not supposed to run that fast five days before the Derby and be able to come back and run a mile and a quarter,” he said. “That said, who am I to question Larry Jones. I just don’t know what to do with it.”
YES, true horsemen!! While I was upset to hear he would not be running, I fell more in love with Ned Evans and his team! Delighted to know that people still put the horse’s best interest first!
Another one down, another one gone and off the trail …
Win Willy will not start in the Derby
Robertson said an x-ray taken Tuesday revealed a “line” in the left front ankle that could or could not be a problem. So, to err on the side of caution, the connections decided not to enter the son of Monarchos in the Derby but to give him 30 days off.
Not that he was a strong contender but it was obviously a wise idea to pull him out of there was any physical issues.
Interesting comment from race caller Johnson on the Godolphin entries. That would be a shocker if one of them takes it Saturday!
Certainly the positive, without a shadow of a doubt, the best piece of work I’ve seen all week was last Saturday morning — Regal Ransom. He’s really muscled up. When he clicked off that :59 4/5 and ran out to 1:13, he was completely and utterly unasked, really impressive. The two Godolphin horses look far more muscled than anything that’s come over for Godolphin to run here before, and I would even go as far as saying as any horse that’s ever come from Europe to run in the Derby before. They look like proper dirt horses. Desert Party overcame a troubled work earlier on last weekend and did well, and he really impressed me when they put him into the gate, he looked very professional.
