[EBone]

Gonna be @ Oaklawn this weekend for the Arkansas Derby. Like to hear some opinions especially from Seattle Slew, kdmfox, picantel, imgv94 and anyone else that wants to give me a winner. I seem to really be strugglin' with this one.

Let's hear some opinions, gentlemen.



E

[Seattle Slew]

Haven't seen the PPs yet, but it looks like a nice race with 10 horses entered.

In the Blue Grass, I'm sticking with Zanjero, 3rd in his last two efforts and likely will be 6 to 8-1 here. I'm going to toss Great Hunter and hope Zanjero can run second with Street Sense.

[kdmfox]

PPs for Arkansas Derby

http://www.drf.com/row/pps/07arkansasderby.pdf


Handicapper's Selections: 2,10,3,9

1 Delightful Kiss (FL) 10/1 Russell A. Baze 118 3 G L Pete D. Anderson
2 Curlin (KY) 7/5 Robby Albarado 122 3 C L Steven M. Asmussen
3 Officer Rocket (gb) (GB) 6/1 Luis S. Quinonez 122 3 C L Robert E. Holthus
4 Going Ballistic (FL) 12/1 M. Clifton Berry 122 3 C L Donnie K. Von Hemel
5 Flying First Class (CA) 8/1 Terry J. Thompson 118 3 C L D. Wayne Lukas
6 Storm In May (FL) 15/1 Juan C. Leyva 122 3 C L William A. Kaplan
7 Olympic Chief (KY) 50/1 Gen Kato 118 3 C Janet Davidson
8 Slew By Slew (KY) 20/1 Donald R. Pettinger 122 3 G L Donnie K. Von Hemel
9 For You Reppo (KY) 6/1 Kent J. Desormeaux 118 3 C L Helen Pitts
10 Deadly Dealer (FL) 4/1 John R. Velazquez 118 3 C L Todd A. Pletcher

[kdmfox]

PPs for Toyota Blue Grass

http://www.drf.com/row/pps/07toyotabluegrass.pdf


Handicapper's Selections: 4,7,1,2

1 Zanjero (KY) 8/1 Garrett K. Gomez 123 3 C L Steven M. Asmussen
2 Dominican (KY) 10/1 Rafael Bejarano 123 3 G L Darrin Miller
3 Love Dubai (KY) 30/1 Miguel Mena 123 3 C L Michael J. Maker
4 Street Sense (KY) 4/5 Calvin H. Borel 123 3 C L Carl A. Nafzger
5 Time Squared (NY) 30/1 Julien R. Leparoux 123 3 C Patrick L. Biancone
6 Teuflesberg (KY) 10/1 Edgar S. Prado 123 3 C L Jamie Sanders
7 Great Hunter (PA) 9/5 Corey S. Nakatani 123 3 C L Doug F. O'Neill

[Seattle Slew]

The Arkansas Derby has a first-time starter? No. 7.

Liking No. 10 Deadly Dealer but likely to be overbet with Velasquez/Pletcher connections.

[imgv94]

ARK: Curlin looks like the winner of the Ark Derby to me.. Horse could be anything. Foes seem weak. I'm betting Curlin to win.


BG: Of course Street Sense is the obvious horse and defintely should be. Looks like the chalk will run one-two here.. Tuefflesberg is interesting.

[imgv94]

Originally Posted by Seattle Slew

Haven't seen the PPs yet, but it looks like a nice race with 10 horses entered.

In the Blue Grass, I'm sticking with Zanjero, 3rd in his last two efforts and likely will be 6 to 8-1 here. I'm going to toss Great Hunter and hope Zanjero can run second with Street Sense.

Is there any speed to set Zanjero up? Race is void of a true speed horse.

Might have to put #6 Tuefflesberg.. Seems like the lone F in here.

[kdmfox]

I'm going with the #10 Deadly Dealer in the Arkansas Derby ... Nice Beyer last time out, won handily, a top jock and barn ... Stretches out and controls the pace gate to wire ... #2 Curlin 3 lengths back 2nd.

[kdmfox]

Totota Blue Grass ... I can't get past the big chalk #4 Street Sense, so that's my pick ... #2 Dominican 2nd.

[ukbro00]

Originally Posted by Seattle Slew

The Arkansas Derby has a first-time starter? No. 7.

Although on paper, the #7 horse, Olympic Chief shows nothing, it it very intersting. The owner put up $15,000 just to run in the race, and I dont think he would have done that he if thought his horse was a rat. His mud tomlinson rating is by far the highest in the field, and with rain in the forecast, I won't be surprised if he actually ran good. With that said however, I think Curlin is the horse to beat. I don't think he is going to be anyhting great, but we have yet to see a great horse on the "Trail" yet. Officer Rocket likes Oaklawn, but i'll put For You Reppo in my exacta.

[Seattle Slew]

Not seeing much speed, but just sticking with Zanjero since I've been on him last 2 races and he placed 3rd both times. I also think these two favorites could stumble.

Originally Posted by imgv94

Is there any speed to set Zanjero up? Race is void of a true speed horse.

Might have to put #6 Tuefflesberg.. Seems like the lone F in here.

[zootiehead]

Curlin looked awesome. Definitely a contender for Derby fave.

[ukbro00]

Originally Posted by zootiehead

Curlin looked awesome. Definitely a contender for Derby fave.

I'd have to agree with you, but Asmussen can't use his "juice" in the Derby, so Curlin will probably bounce.

[imgv94]

Originally Posted by kdmfox

Totota Blue Grass ... I can't get past the big chalk #4 Street Sense, so that's my pick ... #2 Dominican 2nd.

Nice job hopefully you had the EX BOX..

My dad had $20 win on Dominican and was screaming in the stretch.. It was something to watch..

[Seattle Slew]

Glad somebody won, because I needed Zanjero at 7-1 to get even from my earlier lousy picks at Keeneland. Had the lead with 50 yards left and I was screaming for the wire. Another tough beat.

The Arkansas horse looked awesome, but that was a terrible field. Still could be a monster but I'm tossing him for the Derby.

[EBone]

Well, the Ark Derby was quite a site to behold. The locals erupted when Curlin came around the turn to overtake Deadly Dealer. Curlin is an Arkansas bred so the locals were pretty happy about the blowout. In my opinion, I don't think Curlin really ran like he can in the Arkansas Derby because he didn't have to. I had Deadly Dealer and Curlin in an exacta box but that flippin #6 ruined the party for me. I thought Pletcher had a good idea in getting out in front and maybe he could steal the race but DD never got far enough out front. Curlin is an impressive horse to see in person.

As a side note, my group absolutely raked in the 7th race at Oaklawn on Saturday....#6 Takedown was a huge winner for all of us that day. I think, as a group, we won $2500 on that race. An unbelievable drop in class for Takedown but still an impressive field for a win like that. That race was incredibly fun. Unfortunately, for the day, I only came out slightly ahead but it was well worth it for the fun we had in that 7th race.

I saw the Blue Grass on simulcast at Oaklawn. It looked to me like Street Sense was bumped twice in the stretch. Was there an inquiry done on that race or not? Great call on Dominican, kdmfox.




E

[kdmfox]

Well, Street Sense was my top pick but I did manage a $25 exacta and a $5 trifecta.

[Seattle Slew]

Street Sense ran erratic in the stretch and wasn't interferred with. No real escuse for him.

The horse that got bumped by Tufflesberg was Great Hunter. GH's jock, Corey Nakatini, didn't claim foul that would have moved him up a spot. He said "my horse was beat." I like his honesty. Most jocks would claim foul there to move up a spot.

Originally Posted by EBone

I saw the Blue Grass on simulcast at Oaklawn. It looked to me like Street Sense was bumped twice in the stretch. Was there an inquiry done on that race or not? Great call on Dominican, kdmfox.




E