KY DERBY

   I thought I'd be posting my selections tonight but there are still some nagging questions on my mind.

   The first concerns Uncle Mo and if he's going to run or not. I'm feeling he will run because I don't think there was ever anything wrong with him other than being short on condition for the Wood. It's my feeling that Pletcher, rather than admit that the schedule he had set up contributed to the lack of conditioning of Mo, concocted the story of some kind of stomach ailment. I don't ever recall him admitting to a mistake in training. At any rate I want to wait another day to see what develops with Mo.

   Another question concerned Master Of Hounds. I was hoping he would have a workout but he just jogged around the track. I know that not many give him a chance but I am giving him considerable thought for several reasons. One is, he is without a doubt, the best bred horse in the race. Another is that O'Brien is one of the best trainers in the world and I don't think he would bring him all this way if he didn't think he had a chance. In addition, he has a top American jock which I think will help the cause. MOH has had one race this year and was nosed at the wire so we know he must be in shape. I can't dismiss him, especially at 30/1.

   The third horse that concerns me is Animal Kingdom. He's only had 4 races and won 2 of them at 1 1/8 and was 2nd in his other 2 races. He's coming up to his 3rd off a layoff and looks to be sitting on a big race. The question is, how will he handle dirt since his 2 wins are on poly. He did have a nice 6f work over the track and seemed ok doing it. He has a pedigree with some German champs that I'm not familiar with and his dosage numbers are low which might be caused by unrated horses in the pedigree. He sure seems to be able to handle the distance and he's not really a deep closer but can lay just off the pace. Another thing I like about him is that both his wins were what I consider BIG wins and no other horse in the race has a big win at 1 1/8. He has a top notch trainer and his jock has won with him and is really at home at CD. Also, remember that Barbaro started on the grass and last year Paddy, who was a grass horse, ran well. So I think this horse has a lot of positives and will be huge odds.

   So, I will sleep on this another night and will post my final decision and how I'm going to structure my bets Fri. evening.
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