Well, it was a big weekend but I don't think much was settled. Uncle Mo had no competition and cruised a mile but looked good doing it. There have been plenty of comments, pro and con, about him and a lot of speculation about his ability to get the distance. I'm not too impressed with his sire side but I like his dam's credentials. There's a lot of Northern Dancer blood in there and that's always a big plus. Even if the derby distance is stretching him a little he may do it on raw talent. Don't forget, nobody has gotten close to him yet and if there is to be another TC winner it will likely be a horse of his type.
I think the Tampa Bay Derby exposed Brethren for what he is; a good horse but not champion material. I liked the pedigree of a few in that race, especially that of the winner. He may become a major player down the line. And believe it or not, the claiming horse that ran second at huge odds also has a decent pedigree. In defense of Brethren, I think he was given an over confident ride. Ramon rode him as if there was no competition in the race.
The San Felipe was a very competitive race to begin with. They ran some crazy fractions up front as has been happening all year at that track. In light of that it's really hard to tell what a lot of these horses will do on another track. I'm looking forward to seeing how The Factor fares at Oaklawn.
This race really fell apart up front and even though Premier Pegasus seemed to win quite easily, I think Jaycito and Bench Points were just given too much to do by lagging so far behind the field. But, as I said, running on tracks other than SA may be an entirely different story.
The Rebel next week promises to be a big one as far as separating the men from the boys. I really feel that if Uncle Mo fails, the derby winner will come from the Arkansas preps. I'll be going over the Rebel field later in the week.
Please feel free to post your comments as I'm always agreeable to learning something new.
Backstretch
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