Below is the link to Steve Haskins’ latest “Derby Dozen”, a column that he produces every week. You may not agree with his choices, but I think it is a good summary of the leading three-year olds. Has info on training and racing plans, workouts, etc.
Thanks for the link. Lots of pedigree there. My personal favorite name of that bunch is Instagrand - very hip. And I love the blue collar Knicks Go, although I think maybe he was precocious at the right time and will struggle to repeat that form this year.
I remember their son…not to date myself. Carry Back, much better name.
Speaking of names, guess nobody is going to ask how Mucho Machos dam is bred…clever there. Toomanyletters for my taste though.
I agree there are some tasty pedigrees in both the top 12 along with the ‘worth mentioning’ crowd.
But, how many times has pedigree shown to be “interesting” both negatively and positively (horses with tons of black type and sire names/dam families that can’t run along with those with a blue collar pedigree that are just stars).
Definitely names to watch. I’ll confess I’m more interested in seeing how some of the ‘worth mentioning’ crowd perform… like Tax or Maximus Mischief and maybe Gunmetal Gray.
Time to start shaking the box to let the stars rise to the top and the chaff fall to the bottom…
Actually Big Brown the horse is named for United Parcel Service, often referred to as “Big Brown”. Not that it makes it any better, lol! “FedEx” wouldn’t be the worst name ever, though…
I always thought Da Hoss was a stupid name, but who couldn’t love that tough, determined gelding? Same with Roany Pony, another good stakes winner. I’ve just never cared for cutesy names that sound like the owner’s kindergartner came up with them.
One I’m keeping an eye on is Improbable. He’s been working lights out and doing it easily. And the name offers so many tantalizing options for headline wordplay…“Improbable Winner Of (insert classic name here)”, :lol:
Thinking of names and wordplay with them reminds me of a story I read in a book. Churchill Downs had a new lounge that they had just built in their grandstand, and they were having the grand opening of it in spring 1946. They announced proudly that they were going to name the new room after that year’s Kentucky Derby winner.
After the Derby, they changed their minds. They decided having an “Assault Room” at the track might not sound appropriate.
Talk about hope springing eternal!
The complete list of Triple Crown nominees:
https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/triple-crown/nominations
And on the list, another fabulous name to add to the list of potential Triple Crown champions: Hog Creek Hustle
It takes a kindergardener to get a name creative enough to get past the PTB and onto the horses paper work. Had friends back in the snail mail days with a QH filly they wanted to get Petticoat into the name from the dam line. First 6 tries were no, tried with some more and got one in. Because they had mispelled Petticoat as Perricoat.
Turned out to be a successful mare and everybody remembered her name…except every stall sign and halterplate and a couple of engraved trophies came in with Petticoat because the engravers assumed they had mispelled Petticoat as Perricoat. Ironic.
In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t cost much to nominate.
And it costs a great deal to enter a Triple Crown race if you haven’t nominated. It isn’t just about the KY Derby. Some of those horses might be pointing toward the Preakness or the Belmont.
Makes perfect sense. My old TB who really didn’t earn the OT part (no lop tattoo) was nominated for Breeder’s Cup. Same deal… inexpensive when done early and the cost only goes up as the horse ages. She never even saw a racetrack AFAIK ::lol: (She’s not even in Equibase, I just checked.)
Here is an article about a few of the West Point hopefuls. One paragraph in particular made me chuckle:
"Plenty of Triple Crown ripples across the West Point pond, not to mention the half-sister to Justify, Egyptian Storm (Pioneerof The Nile), approaching her much-anticipated debut for Christophe Clement. Co-owned with R.S. Evans, she was picked up for $230,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale when Justify was listed on the page as "a 2-year-old of 2017."Plenty of Triple Crown ripples across the West Point pond, not to mention the half-sister to Justify, Egyptian Storm (Pioneerof The Nile), approaching her much-anticipated debut for Christophe Clement. Co-owned with R.S. Evans, she was picked up for $230,000 at the 2017 Keeneland September Sale when Justify was listed on the page as “a 2-year-old of 2017.”
This article clearly and amusingly explains “Triple Crown Dreams”.
https://www.drf.com/top-news/watchmaker-time-for-some-to-enjoy-triple-crown-dreams-457158
I saw the San Vicente. Dessman impressed me more than the winner. Looks like a nice scrappy type of horse. The winner was perfectly timed by the jockey, but Dessman was fighting back. Maybe one of those who gets bored alone and wants a target? Coliseum didn’t seem to do much, and I have trouble seeing him at 1 1/4 miles. The horse who finished fourth, Synthesis, caught my eye. I liked his action, and he struck me for some reason as something that might appreciate some distance down the road. Of course, the track looked very sloppy. That might have affected results.
I remember reading a story about an old-time trainer who bred and trained young horses and sold them out of his barn at the track (long before the days of 2YO in training sales). He said he nominated all his colts to the Triple Crown because it was a great way to market them, so potential buyers would think, well, they thought enough of him to nominate him to the Triple Crown.
Huh. So a half-sister to one Triple Crown winner sired by the sire of the only other living Triple Crown winner. On paper at least they got an interesting deal.
And silly names and the Triple Crown? We have a TC winner named “Omaha.” That ship sailed before most/all of us were born.
Per Bob Baffert: Coliseum is off the Derby trail.
IMO, not a bad decision by Baffert for Coliseum. Coliseum didn’t impress me much last Saturday. Maybe he needs to mature or maybe he isn’t quite the horse that Baffert thought.
So hard looking at the newly turned 3yo’s to really know who’s got rout vs sprint…
I like my job; sitting behind the keyboard watching the season unfold
War of Will, winner of the Risen Star, broke his maiden at Churchill.
Last weeks winner of the El Camino real…Anothertwistafate was impressive in all three starts on the synthetic. I hope his first start at SA was a toss. I guess we will see when he moves back to dirt. The El Camino was a win and your in for the Preakness. I train for the connections in Canada, so I will be cheering him on.
Code of Honor redeemed himself in the Fountain of Youth–looked pretty good going 1 and 1/16th. Gorgeous, real eye candy. Sired by Noble Mission by Galileo.
Very fast early pace set by Hidden Scroll, then they slowed down quite a bit.
Bourbon War, by Tapit, was flying at the end.