I’ve had an “unapproved” post which came up later. It also contained a Paulick Report link.
So who are you picking to win tomorrow for either division of the Arkansas Derby?
As far as the virtual derby–I do love Secretariat and I guess it wouldn’t seem quite right if he doesn’t win, BUT I’m kinda rooting for Citation. His race record is just amazing. I think he only finished out of the money once in 45 starts. He doesn’t get much attention these days because not many people remember him first hand and there was no Disney movie about him but he was definitely one of the all time greats.
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Div I, probably Charlatan.
Handicap, probably Tacitus.
Div II, sentimental- Storm the Court; “practical” Nadal or King Guillermo.
Storm the Court, Nadal
Silver Prospector
Handicap…i really would like to see Tacitus win, i also like Tax!
For the virtual race I like Secretariat, with Citation second, Affirmed third.
I like Charlatan for Division 1. He’s co-owned by a Canadian. 2 - Anneau D’Or. 3 - Gouverneur
Division II, I like Nadal. 2 - Wells Bayou. 3 - Storm the Court
I wasn’t following this 3yo crop at all though, so I’m probably way off 
Who won the virtual race? I didn’t watch.
Baffert a clean sweep in both divisions of the Arkansas Derby… Charlatan and Nadal.
Charlatan in 1:48.49 was an easy, IMO, winner but also wasn’t challenged. Basin actually ran, I thought, a nice race to finish second.
By My Standards took the Oaklawn Hcp in 1:47.80
Nadal took division 2 in 1:48.34, King Guillermo second, Finnick the Fierce third. Well Bayou, Storm the Court, Silver Prospector off the board.
Granted Charlatan wasn’t pushed ever but the slowest of the 3 races. All were 1 1/8 distance.
I’d like to see Charlatan get pushed (if there is a horse than can, maybe Tiz the Law?)
Not sure if it was the slower fractions or ??? But I was rather under impressed with winners from both divisions of the Arkansas Derby.
I did enjoy the Oaklawn Hcp.
1 - Secretariat, by a half length over…
2 - Citation, a length in front of…
3 - Seattle Slew, a half length in front of…
4 - Affirmed, a half length-to-neck in front of…
5 - American Pharoah, 3/4 length in front of…
6 - Whirlaway, a head in front of…
7 - Justify*, a nose in front of…
8 - Count Fleet, two lengths in front of…
9 - Assault, 2 1/2 lengths in front of…
10 - War Admiral, a length in front of…
11 - Omaha, 1/2-3/4 length in front of…
12 - Gallant Fox, 3 lengths in front of…
13 - Sir Barton. Poor, first Triple Crown winner/when it wasn’t called the Triple Crown Sir Barton.
*I think. Whirlaway’s cap blocks Count Fleet’s nose, so it’s hard to tell whether it was Justify in front of the Count, or the Count nosing out Justify, or heck, whether they dead heated.
It was really nicely done–I loved the touches that made it look like an actual NBC broadcast, complete with the into-the-first-turn camera angle, gate workers doing their thing, and the number/silk/name sequence in the lower left throughout. It was a little hard to recognize who was who without their highly identifiable equipment such as Secretariat’s checkered blinkers (and Seattle Slew without his funky paddling-out gait), but they explained there wasn’t time to add such details so considering everything else, it’s really impressive.
What surprised me were the fractions. I can’t imagine letting the likes of Seattle Slew lead the field with :23 at the quarter, just under :47 for the half, and 1:11 and change at six furlongs–I’d imagine back in their day, giving them that sort of relaxed pace would have had them exploding from the field no matter who was in it. I’d think the algorithm would’ve upped those fractions a bit considering what monsters were in the field. They didn’t post the mile or final times, but my rough estimate for the final was 1:59 and change, so that at least made sense.
Overall, here I am on a Sunday morning, studying the finish of a fictional race and revisiting history to see what horses had which silks to identify final finish while also postulating on imaginary fractions. It’s been a great deal of fun. 
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Thanks! I went back and watched it later on yesterday but didn’t know the complete order of finish. I was expecting secretariat to win. Was hoping AP would come in second haha
Charlatan continues to make it look easy… IMO, he needs to be both tested in a larger field and getting boxed in as well as getting challenged in the stretch (whether he is in front or trying to get there).
Nadal I thought ran a nice race and had to overcome some challenges in winning… his was not a walk in the park.
Both, need better company. Not that the other horses were bad but maybe not of the caliber that might be in the KD gate.
We’ve got 4 months for tracks to re-jigger their stakes schedules, get racing again, work with Churchill Downs on KD points awarded (since, last year, by this time, all the KD points races had been run). We’ve got 4 months to see if horses like Charlatan and Nadal continue to improve or start to tail off over the summer.
4 months is a long time. I liked what I saw yesterday but I’m not putting that blanket of red roses on any horse just yet 
No way could I see Justify finishing ahead of either War Admiral or Count Fleet.
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I didn’t mean to take anything away from either winner…
I guess seeing how it was the 1st Saturday in May, in which any other year many of these horses should have been in the KD… Both divisions just felt IDK… uninspiring 🤷🻔♀ï¸
Maybe it’s just because of the entire unconventional year we’ve had.
I agree that while these two are very good horses… a long time from the first Saturday in May to the first Saturday in September.
Yes, I’d have felt far more strongly about both these wins if more of the possible KD field was in the race.
I think trainers this year are on their back foot with how to train to the KD or what is their training target… what about the TC… and we know the BC is the first Saturday in November - only two months after the KD.
I totally agree. I think I might have put Count Fleet third, certainly higher than 8th.
And I guess this is a pointless discussion.
I know. I just thought it would be interesting to see him in the virtual race since he didn’t got a shot at the real one.
Big Red II. Who else?
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That’s the fun in this, though. It’s pointless fun.
It’s challenging placing horses like Justify and Count Fleet who never raced again after the Belmont–we didn’t get a full sense of who they are as superhorses/potential superhorses. Honestly, I was surprised to see Affirmed ahead of American Pharoah–I’d have reversed that. But again, all in good fun.
