ROTW

[spa]

I don\'t agree with the choice of the speed ball for this week\'s race. There is plenty of cheap speed in here and only one proven router. The Africa colt will get  the front end of the bet. In a race like this,I like betting the invaders.

[JimP]

At the odds, the play to me seems to be betwen El Batallon and Quiet Money.

I can\'t play Cajun Pepper to get this distance and he\'ll likely go off at less than the ML. And I don\'t like the trainer switch after the suspension either.

Southern Africa is the likely favorite and almost surely will be an underlay. I don\'t like the figures pattern on this one. But if he can return to the 6 level, he\'s a contender but not a stand out.

Dover Dere will likely pull some money as well, but he\'s just not fast enough.

Thor\'s Echo will take some money because of that big Beyer figure, but he\'s not one I could bet to get the distance either.

Looks like Asmussen may have El Batallon figured out and this one looks like a horse on the improve. If so, and he moves beyond the 8, he\'s about as fast as any of these.

Quiet Money just might get overlooked and surprise. Looks like a horse with a lot of excuses. Three trainers in 6 months. A different jockey in nearly every race. Ships from the north east to the west coast and they throw him right into a G3 on the grass at HOL. A wasted effort. The last one at TuP was not bad. Could be moving back toward the 6 level. The short rest bothers me, but maybe this latest trainer has figured him out.    

At the ML odds, looks like a good Exacta box on El Batallon and Quiet Money.

[spa]

The bet....Southern Africa over Cajun Pepper/EL Batallon!!!! Exactas and Tri\'s
The question...Why Gomez over Baze on the Africa colt? It took replacing Gomez with Baze to get Harvard A. over yesterday. Does bad trip mean anything?

[derby1592]

Alan,

Nice job on the ROTW, regardless of the outcome.

Chris