Kentucky Derby Recap
Once again, I'm wrong about the Kentucky Derby. But, at least I was wrong with a longshot (Andromeda's Hero) rather than wrong with a big favorite. I wasn't surprised to see Bellamy Road back up down the Derby stretch. I just couldn't get behind the idea that a son of a horse like Concerto was actually a superhorse, and he isn't one. Congrats to the winner, Giacomo.
To get this Derby right, you basically had to have the contrarian opinion that the horses coming out of the Santa Anita Derby were better than everyone thought. And, they clearly were as they finished 1-4-5-6, all at high odds. When the year began, my top three choices were the California colts Fusaichi Samurai, Roman Ruler and Declan's Moon. They all went down with minor injuries and I abandoned the rest of the California contingent. My mistake.
I knew this race was going to set up for a closer to come from the clouds, which Giacomo did. The next leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, will probably be a different story. I expect Afleet Alex to be in the favorite and I wouldn't be surprised to see him win. He's a gallant colt and the Derby is just a tad too far for him. The shorter Preakness should suit him to a tee.
For me, it's wait until next year again. Here's ten two-year old colts I'm tracking, hopefully one or two of them will be in the Derby starting gate a year from now:
- Where's That Tiger: Storm Cat colt out of a full sister to Fusaichi Pegasus
- Flight West: half brother to one of my all-time faves, Casanova Star
- Save Big Money: Storm Cat colt out of Tomisue's Delight
- Westward Wind: half brother to Indygo Shiner, from a great Juddmonte Farm family
- New Point: colt from the first crop of Point Given, out of the good turf mare Colstar
- Honor My Flag: by A.P. Indy out of My Flag (a daughter of my beloved Easy Goer)
- Barbican: a full brother to the ill-fated 2001 filly champion Tempera
- Reward Money: by A.P. Indy from a Sunday Silence mare
- Flanders Fields: by A.P. Indy out of 1994 filly champion Flanders
- And, my favorite two-year old, Idaho: by A.P. Indy out of the gorgeous mare Sahara Gold
Posted by at May 8, 2005 12:03 AM
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| # May 9th, 2005 2:33 AM Daddy |
| I visited my parents in Vegas this weekend. Conversation around the breakfast table Saturday morning turned to whether we should place a bet for the Kentucky Derby.
I picked up the paper. I checked to see if Seattle Slew was still racing--I remember hearing he was pretty good. Or maybe Secretariat. Such is my knowledge of horse racing. I looked at the list of contenders. "Hey, Giacomo," I said to my parents. We're Italians from Philly; my parents are going to Italy next week; and you can't get any more Italian than calling your horse "Giacomo". I checked the odds. Fifty to 1. Those are the odds I like. A big payday PLUS bragging rights. I checked his record. He won--WON--7 out of his 12 races (was it 12?). And he's 50-1?? Sounds appealing. Then I put down the paper and forgot about it. At post time, I was tooling with my parents' computer. I stopped just in time to see that Giacomo won. I took it rather well. My dad was another story. He took it as another sign that the world exists just to stick it to him, blah blah blah, relishing his role as The World's Biggest--and ONLY--Victim. My mom tried to settle him down, but he worked himself up so much that he put on 2 different sneakers. Didn't realize it til he went looking for the "missing" sneaker in the pair he (supposedly) just took off. (Just as an aside--yes, I AM adopted). |
| # May 9th, 2005 9:40 AM kris |
| I figure that you, Sting fans, people who loved Giacomo's VERY popular sire, Holy Bull, and lawyers (Closing Argument) have been kicking themselves for missing out on the obvious hunch bet opportunities in this race.
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