Money List and Eddington

[sheba87]

Assuming that Value Plus and St. Averil don\'t go in the Derby.  It looks like Eddington will need two more defections to get in if you believe the numbers at KD.com.

18.  Value Plus $252,500
19.  St Averil $215,200
20.  Master David $208,000
21.  Preachinatthebar $159,000
22.  Saratoga County $156,500
23.  Song of the Sword $132,500
24.  Pro Prado $105,685
25.  Pomeroy $96,250
26.  Eddington $95,000
27.  Rock Hard Ten $90,000
28.  Skipaslew $70,000

I think that Saratoga County is out.  Song of the Sword is going for sure, unfortunately.  I don\'t think Pomeroy is going so that leaves Pro Prado next and then Eddington.

What morning will Zito figure out that running Birdstone in the Derby is insane.  Hopefully it will be the same morning that Mandella figures out the same holds true for Action This Day.

I would say it is 50/50 he gets in.  I also have a future wager in the balance.  Glad I didn\'t bet more then I did.

[phil45]

Tricky Taboo, at 100k, also wants to get in...sigh

[beyerguy]

Why should Mandella and Zito not run ATD and Birdstone?  If their owners want to run, they should run.  They earned their way in by the current rules, which they didn\'t write.  Not to mention the trainers certainly won\'t mind reducing the competition for their other entrants.

[Photofnish]

Why not run Eddington in the one-mile Derby Trial next Saturday? He needs a good workout over the track anyway. Figure out exactly how much $ he needs to get into the race, and then let him gallop around the track and do only as much as needs to do (2nd? 3rd?) to qualify. If for some reason the race is hard on him and he isn\'t in top physical condition for the Derby, so be it; don\'t wheel him back in the Derby. Let him recover and get him ready for the Preakness -- which is where he\'s headed anyway unless he gets more money.

Thoughts?

[bdhsheets]

Problem is the Trial is only a $100k race with $62k going to the winner. Even with a win, he still would need someone to drop out.

[BitPlayer]

I also invested in Eddington in Pool 2, but I\'m not convinced he has earned his way in.  I expected him to run better than he did in the Gotham and certainly in the Wood.  At the top of the stretch in the Wood, he had every opportunity to run away from the field and failed to do so.  He only beat Swingforthefences (who had a similar trip ground-loss-wise) by a length.  He certainly has room to improve, but, if the opportunity does itself, I wouldn\'t take anything other than a long price on that improvement coming in the Derby.

That said, I think the rules for getting into the Derby could stand to be tweaked.  I think money earned as a 2yo or at less than a mile should be discounted or ignored.  If a trainer thinks he has a top 3yo with the stamina to get 10 furlongs, he ought to be required to show it by running his horse in routes against quality competition at 3.  There\'s no way Birdstone or Minister Eric has done enough at 3 to warrant inclusion in the field.  To some extent, I feel the same way about Action This Day, although I can see an argument that the BC Juvenile winner should be automatically eligible for the Derby.

In general, I think that rules for entry in the Derby and the BC and voting for year-end championships should be oriented towards getting trainers to run their horses against quality competition more often.  It makes for better betting races all year long, which is good for racing.

[Michael D.]

eddington loafs too much on the race track. if they took the derby trial route, there is too great a chance the horse would run second or third, and still not get in. they would have to crank him up to be assured of a decent run going 1m, and that is just too risky seven days before the derby. RHT seems to do things a bit easier, and has the extra week rest. i would be more willing to try it with that horse (still would not do it).... i think the rules need to be changed, but i guess the bottom line is that the rules are as they are, and henning just didn\'t get the job done. really a shame, with so much speed signed up, the 10f is looking right up his alley.

[Michael D.]

of the 20 top money earners, one is out (VP), one is likely (ATD), and one is on is on the fence (SA). the other 17 are definite. of the other horses ahead of eddi, four are alomost definite (PP, SotS, TT, and QGR), and one is out (SC). so looks like 18 or 19 from the top 20 list, and 4 others will point to the derby. that makes 22 or 23 ahead of eddy. i would say on average, at least two of these will have some problem that will prevent them from running. looks like eddi will wind up with 20 or 21 horses ahead of him............

[jbelfior]

EDDINGTON will win his next race as soon as they enter him in a n/w 2 allowance.

Gentlemen, let\'s look at the facts...until this horse wins a stakes race he\'s just a lot of hype trained by a guy who, in my opinion, couldn\'t get a horse to take a dump.

We would all do as well with the stock clueless Henning has been given. (PS: he\'s done a terrific job mishandling GYGISTAR). Let\'s add RAGING FEVER who he also gutted.

I\'m also praying EDDINGTON gets in....he\'ll burn a ton of money.



Good Luck,
Joe B.

[Photofnish]

Didn\'t realize the pot was so meager. Thanks.

[pgsheets]

Henning trained this horse to give the best performance of any horse on the track in the Wood.
You can\'t have it both ways guys.  If you are sheet guys, then it\'s all about the number and I\'m confident that the number will show who was \'best\'.  If you are a pace or trip guy, then Eddington was once again best.
I\'ll give you the fact that he does lack the exceptional turn of foot that others seem to possess, but don\'t blame the horse or trainer for the end result. The great Bailey is solely responsible for him not being in.

For Bitplayer to say he had every oppurtunity to run away from the field at the head of the stretch is naive at best and ignorant at worst.  There doesn\'t appear to be much understanding of what the horse did for the first mile of the race. I beg you to watch the Woodbine Breeder\'s Cup Classic with Bailey on Cigar and the 2004 Wood with Bailey on Eddington.  The similiarity is uncanny.

For jbelfior,  two dubious examples of Hennings training history do not carry much weight.  I\'d love to hear you expand on the mismanagement of Gygistar and Raging Fever. Does he own those horses ?  Is he solely responsible for deciding where and when they run ? The only thing I can say with regards to Gygistar, is that he is no longer and threat in Grade 1\'s.
 Shame on you Henning.

This will be my final post on Eddington until he races again.

Thanks all and may the ones who belong come back safely.

[jbelfior]

pgsheets--

I\'ll add SUMMER COLONY who he should have retired after she won the Molly Pitcher at Monmouth last sumer in a dreadfully slow performance against a bunch of allowance fillies.

But hey, you have the right to talk up anyone you please....it\'s your opinion. All I\'m saying is that my Derby money will never go with 1) a trainer who has very little experience in this situation and is overrated at best and 2) a horse that has trouble switching leads and could not get by 2 horses that were coming off being sick and short of their best.  

In time EDDINGTON may prove you correct. But not by May 1st.



Good Luck,
Joe B.

[holybull95]

Just a couple of comments:

Re entries:  Rules is rules.  Is there any other MEASURABLE way of ranking the runners?  Maybe an AE list is worthwhile but for next year, not this.  By February each trainer and owner should know what they may have and schedule graded preps to allow for a dirty nose or bad trip or dumb jockey syndrome (not withstanding the horse\'s health).  Can you imagine having a \"committee\" nominate 3 or 4 entries.  What a possibility smoke filled room politicking, back door gambits as well as under the table antics.  It would make for good reading....

Re sportsmanship:  In this thread and others the idea of cross entering or entering just to keep others out has been raised.  Granted that is bad sportsmanship but you can\'t stop it.  Is it bad sportsmanship to enter someone with no shot at all?  The Derby is every owners dream.  To have a picture of your horse entering the gate for the Derby is something every owner wants even though he knows deep down that the only other picture he will get is from the head on showing his steed far up the track at the end.  Last thing on sportsmanship and racing....who do you know that would rip a sign job ticket because Mr. Cordero exhibited unsportsmanlike conduct during the race?

Re futures:  I too have Eddington and RHT in the futures.  So I am reserving about one minute and 59 and 3/5 seconds to whine when the entries are drawn.  But I do have TCE and Borrego.  So I\'ll look to key them underneath.

[Michael D.]

pg,
i agree with almost all of your assessments on eddington, except for your opinions on henning. the move to run the horse in the gothem was a poor decision. cutting back to 1m, and using prado, a jockey who tends to rate horses a bit more than most, was setting the horse up for a loss. i thought the horse would lose that race, as i posted before the race (and i also think the horse is one of the top 2 three yr olds). his overall plan left the horse needing to come in first or second in one of the year\'s toughest preps in order to get into the derby. as we all know, anything can happen in one horse race (including a wide trip). henning blew it.

[Michael D.]

holybull,
i think the BC uses a committee to select horses to run at some point. that works well, doesn\'t it?