The Good News Is...

[TGJB]

Pletcher on Mo-- \"His appetite today was the best it\'s been since the Wood\".

Uhhh, I gotta question...

[Rick B.]

Ah, fantastic -- perhaps Uncle Mo can duplicate his scintillating performance in the The Wood on Derby day!

(Please enter Uncle Mo in the Derby...PLEASE!)

[plasticman]

So he\'s had a poor appetite for the last 2 weeks? Hmmmm. And, get this,  it wasnt even a \'hard race\' he was loose on the lead pretty much and just fell apart. If Pletcher can get this guy to the Derby and WIN it, its a phenominal training job no two ways about it.

[Silver Charm]

So hasn\'t eaten in two weeks+ and hasn\'t worked??

Hey FrankD, here is your Keyed Entry (who Í believe lost the Wood to Bob and John)

[rhagood]

Lot of hopefuls in this....


Todd Pletcher provided an update to the Louisville media this morning on Uncle Mo, the 2-year-old champion and Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner who lost for the first time in five lifetime starts when third in the Wood Memorial. Uncle Mo is scheduled to work in company Tuesday with jockey John Velazquez.

After the Wood, blood work detected what Pletcher referred to as a gastrointestinal tract infection.

"He's really responding well to treatment," Pletcher said. "His last 48 hours, in particular, his appetite's the best it's been since the Wood. I'm feeling really good about the direction we're heading.

"Like I said, we need to have a really good 19 days, and so far we've had a really good five here. We need 13 more. But I'm really, really pleased with the progress we're making at the moment.... One of the good things about what he has is that we haven't had to miss those daily gallops. Normally I would have maybe worked him today, but I decided to give him a couple more days to let the medication pick in. With the results we're seeing, it's working. So we'll go on Tuesday and hopefully build off that."

It was suggested that some veteran horsemen and veterinarians have never heard of a GI tract infection. Pletcher offered a clarification.

"It's more accurately probably a GI tract inflammatory disease," he said. "It's more an inflammation of the GI tract. It's not completely rare, but it's obviously something we had to look pretty hard (to find). We've got some of the best (equine) internists around doing that. I'm glad we found something. I think it explains why he ran the way he did, and why his appetite was poor after the Wood.

"... I've lost no confidence in the horse's ability. I know it's there. We just wanted to know why we didn't see it on Wood day.... Like I said at the beginning of the year, we didn't need him to necessarily get better. We just needed him to stay as good. I felt like we had stayed as good until the Wood. We took a step back in the Wood for the first time in his career, really. Hopefully we found a reason for it and we're correcting it, and hopefully it pays off for us the right day."

[Silver Charm]

And \"hopefully\" if a well bet 2YO Champ runs last or totally up the Track racing doesn\'t lose more Fans.

Pletcher has explained away this entire spring as being \"Perfect\" and then the Wood as being nothing more than an inexplicable Fluke. That \"hopefully\" have figured out and \"obviously\" wasnt the outcome we expected!

I know this is a Gamblers Board but there\'s a Bigger Picture here........

[richiebee]

Silver:

By some accounts America is emerging from the Recession. The bigger picture you
are looking for, a \"BIG HORSE\" to revitalize Racing, will not be necessary to draw
the masses to the Kentucky Derby.

Yes it is a gambling board. From what I have read, many on the Board are waiting
with anticipation to see Uncle Slo (indeed Brilliant!...as a 2YO) and No Factor
(whose Rebel was perhaps the only Brilliant! effort turned in by a 3YO this year)
(and as the sage Jimbo pointed out, those open length fast fraction efforts tend
to be overrated) to be entered, probably for selfish pari-mutuel or pace reasons.

Silver, embrace diversity. Better to have many story lines instead of just one.

You have the father/son-in-law team of Fires and Court coming off a big win in
their Arkansas stomping ground. You have God blessed New York Nicky Zito (somehow
annointed by some as a Derby whiz, he is winless in the Derby since 1994) with a
serious contender. You have Kiaran McLaughlin and TAP, the two DWL disciples
facing off against each other. You\'ll have trainers named Kathy and maybe
Kathleen which always draws media attention. Aidan O\'Brien will be sending in
the \"Hound\", probably beating the quarantine deadline by a second or two; the man
knows not the word \"acclimation.\"

And of course, the two medical miracles. We\'ll need to cut through the veterinary
jargon so the masses can understand why Uncle and No Factor were compromised in
their final preps. Uncle had a tummy ache; cut the camera to Mike Repole pouring
some Pepto Bismol into Uncle\'s mouth. No Factor had his tonsils removed; show Jill
or Bodie feeding NF some post op ice cream.

In my jaded opinion there is no dominant 3YO this year, which is fine by me.
While it would be good for racing in my neck of the woods to have a Triple Crown
candidate coming up to the Belmont Stakes, I think it is more likely that the
Triple Crown races will be won by three different runners.

[Silver Charm]

Ritchie your too funny. And probably too right.

However i wish I could have shown you the look on the face of my banks branch manager the next time I saw her after having told her to watch the Derby and 8Belles broke down.

She kept repeating \"all I was doing was screaming at the TV for her to please get up\" She didnt bet a nickle but had a vested interest for a day.

Pletcher has run last or next to last a lot in this race. If guys want to see him add another to his resume with a horse thats 7-1 or maybe less who has been ill and WILL BE reported as having been ill then get all you can while the getting is good.

I\'ll get off my soapbox now......

[MonmouthGuy]

Thanks Richie. The most thought provoking post I have read on this years Derby picture.  Brilliant.

[miff]

The Factor Will Not Run in Derby according to Bloodhorse

[richiebee]

MG:

In all honesty, if you are looking for thought provoking, you are probably better
off looking for the musings Jimbo or Michael D. or MJellish, all of whom analyze
the Derby (and all major races) succinctly, and sometimes successfully. Let me
not forget Covel, TG\'s man on the ground at CD, who I am relying on to provide
2 weeks of reports which should always include the words \"(s)he came back to the
barn bucking and squealing.\"

I was having some fun with Silver Charm, whose response to my post indicated that
he accepted my post for what it was. Lest I become too irreverent, the Thoropope
will excommunicate me and I will be exiled to the nether regions with the likes
of Chuckles and NYC 1347.

To paraphrase Dan Jenkins, no matter who wins the Derby, there are billions of
folks in China who could care less.

Best of luck in all your pari- mutuel endeavors.

[Michael D.]

Richie,

Your synopsis was a hell of a lot better than anything I have.

Great stuff, in fact.

[PonyBologna]

BTW, long-time lurker on the board and really really love all the insight. Been betting the ponies for a while and finally decided to jump into the fray.  Thanks for everything you guys post.

PB