Pace Figures for Derby Contenders

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BRIS ratings for last weekends races are available for free off the Bloodhorse site.  A couple of points.

There was much discussion about the pace of the Wood.  The BRIS figures show plenty of up-front pace in that race (for instance a 118 E2 put up by Buddah) when compared with other derby preps.  Saarlands late pace figure of 100 is not all that impressive, but given the wind I suppose acceptable and I still look at him as a contender.

Once again Harlans\' Holiday did most of his running in the E1 and E2 portions of the race, but because of the ridiculous Keeneland speed bias, he won easily.  Don\'t see him winning the derby, I expect he\'s tired.  Might keep him in a couple of exotics, however.

The SA Derby was horribly slow, regardless of the track condition.  E1 and E2 ratings for all contenders were below 100.  Came Home received an 87 late pace figure.  This should be alarming to any of his backers, he beat a weak field and if he could only muster an 87 at 1 1/8, that means he is not likely to run better a 1 1/4.  He is officially off my ticket now.

War Emblem\'s Ill race was impressive statically, but I\'m worried he may have been a \"horse for the course\".  I\'d like to see his TG number for the last race before passing judgement on him.

Last weekend\'s races did nothing to change my mind, Perfect Drift still looks like the winner to me.....