There are 24 horses on the DRF Derby list as of 4/22 (the horses TGJB printed sheets for). I put Xs next to Rockport and Storm Surge and ?s next to Andro\'s Hero, Going Wild, Survivalist and Spanish Chestnut. Anybody have any current info on the 4 ? s. If they go with the Rabbit, we probably won\'t know until entry time. I guess Coinsilver would have to be added.
Thats 19 horses, even if none of the 4 ?s goes. Greeley\'s Galaxy could be in a tough spot.
I don\'t understand what D Wayne was thinking in the pre Lexington interview when he said
that he didn\'t think there would be 20 horses in the Derby.
Was that the sound of Baffert\'s Sort it Out going by Going Wild in graded earnings?
Andromeda\'s hero is going in the Derby. Survivialist is \"iffy\", depends on the workout this week, Shug didn\'t like the slow work last week.
If Andromeda is definite (make that the beast with 20 hooves), and Coinsilver goes,
the graded earnings come into play and Greeley is on the bench, barring late developments.
injuries will knock one or two out, always happens. I think we are looking at 18 or so.
NAME..............GRADED EARNINGS...............Quick Comment
01.Afleet Alex 1,245,000 [Jeremy Rose?] ......... Won final Arky prep by 8L
02.Wilko 1,004,515 ........[Corey Nakatani] Dettori outside trip may have earned a much bigger fig
03.High Fly 796,500 .......{Jerry Bailey] won Fl Derby by 1 1/2L, concern over 5 weeks
04.Consolidator 632,500.......[Raffael Bejarano?] crushed San Felipe by 6, didn\'t lift a hoof in Bluegrass
05.Bellamy Road 570,000 ........[Javier Castellano] for some reason I really like this horse
06.Bandini 525,000...........[J.R. Velasquez] crushed Bluegrass field by 6
07. High Limit 510,000 [Ramon Domingues].......La Derby fraud
08.Flower Alley 500,000 [Jorge Cavez].......Will Pletcher keep him in the mix?
09. Buzzards Bay 480,000 [Mark Guidry] .....clunked up for SA Derby win.
10.Sun King 402,500 [Edgar Prado???]........facing mules all spring finally cost him
11.Greater Good 380,384 [John McKee].........say what you will, horse likes to win vs slower
12.Survivalist 240,000 [Richard Migliore]........met buzzsaw in Wood, gotta believe Shug says no
13.Rockport Harbor 235,700 [Stewart Elliott] .......owner/trainer have serious Derby Fever, Servis already makin\' excuses for Lex
14.Storm Surge 215,140 [Robbie Albarado].......Lex not thaaat bad, ahem
15.Coin Silver 201,500 .................................................Another big day for Pletcher
16.Noble Causeway [Edgar Prado???].......190,000 nice stks debut, if I\'m Prado, the decision is easy, LOL
17.Closing Argument 165,000 [Cornelio Velasquez].........return wasn\'t that bad
18.General John B 150,000 [Jon Court].......connections fairly serious about Derby run [once in a lifetime opportunity, LOL]
19.Giacomo 139,900 [Mike Smith].......still eligible NW2R, but keeps hitting the board in Graded company
20.Wild Desert 131,320 [???] .........owner is still a dope
21.Spanish Chestnut 124,000 [Gary Stevens, lol].......expensive rabbit may be called upon again
22.Andromedas Hero 115,000 [Corey Nakatani??] .............cannon fodder
23.Magna Graduate 106,696 [Eddie Razo jr.??] once in a lifetime deal for owner?
24.Monarch Lane 100,000 [Carlos Decarlo]..............another Pletcher runner
25.Real Dandy 98,000 [Roman Chapa] ..........with Asmussen you never know
26.Sort it Out 65,000..................Poor Baffy purchase from \'move up trainer\'
26. Going Wild 57,250 [Victor Espinoza].............will see the starting gate before Greeleys Galaxy
Greeleys Galaxy 300,000 [Kent Desormeaux] hoping for Derby to have less than 20 entries to supplement for $200k
gvido:
Enjoyed the earnings rundown and the commentary. You\'re right about Borislow(owner of Wild Desert). He changes trainers as frequently as Magna Entertainment changes corporate officers.
As of this afternoon, Rick Porter says Rockport will be a Derby no show. Finally some sanity from that corner. I think beginning next year horses with their own websites should carry an extra 2 pounds.
Survivalist and Storm Surge are likely non starters. These 3 defections allow Spanish Chestnut, Andromeda\'s Hero and Magna Graduate to run. Spanish Chestnut could enter and scratch the morning of the race (Does Bandini really need a rabbit?)and there will be continued controversy over whether there should be an also eligible list for the Derby.
Too bad about Greeley. Stute may have had the distinction of being the oldest trainer to saddle a Derby entrant, and the colt, though probably being asked to go too far, is obviously improving rapidly.