track specfic derby preps....

[CHOWDERMAN]

some have said the past few days RHL might be vulnerable because she\'s a gulfstream horse, ala, quality road...and her form might not carry over...my question...do you upgrade horses trained and prepped at oaklawn...the past few years you\'ve had smarty, alex, curlin, eight belles, rachel, denis of cork excell in the triple crown races...anyone think the surface there gets the horses in better shape then the other tracks and how would you view a horses number coming out of oaklawn.

[Ill-bred]

Oaklawn numbers are usually solid, and the races with the full stretch run are pretty genuine.

The horses I grade down at GP specifically are front-runners who can set a fast pace and kick for home a little. Those horses will never look better than at GP.

[CHOWDERMAN]

looking at the oaks, RHL looks to have peaked in last at GP and should bounce back a few points, while looking at JOYFUL VICTORY she\'s gotten back to her 2 year old top... and a move forward third off the layoffwith two prep races around two turns at OP, JV should get down to a 0...i\'m thinking this is your oaks winner....

[ajkreider]

FWIW, I think 7 of the 9 horses that filled out the tri in last year\'s triple crown races had at least one race at GP (though not all on dirt).  From this we can conclude . . . . absolutely nothing.