With Kentucky Derby week finally upon us, I thought it best to poll the general public and get a sense for how opinions are shaping up. We’ve got an interesting field to separate between now and Saturday, and with that many burning questions to answer. Will we have a shot at a Triple Crown (we know at least for two weeks in between the Derby and the Preakness we will)? Who is the consensus favorite? How does the pace setup? And perhaps more importantly than all of that, how do we choose between the interesting mid-tier and lower horses who appear to be of comparable quality?
Here’s the 10 “burning questions” I’m most interested in hearing from all of you on.
Well, I guess Quality Road up and answered #3 for us. To be honest, he was probably going to be my top pick.
Interesting to see that after 63 votes, it’s Friesan Fire taking the bulk of the action with 18 votes. If this is illustrative of how the general public might wager, than expect to see some shifting of odds. Only 10 votes thus far for I Want Revenge, almost as many (9) went for one of the runners I did not mention by name (where are you, Advice and Mine That Bird fans?)
Hat tip to Mr. Paulick for linking to this post.
Hey Kevin! I posted on my blog about the pace. I like to ask you what you think.
What happens if Pioneer pulls to the front again for the 3rd time? Can he win on the lead like that in a 1 1/4 mile race?
I see Regal Ransom maybe going near the lead. But it is hard to tell because none of them seem like front runner horses. We have far more closers this time. Pioneer may be behind a slow pace and just want to take off.
I think Regal Ransom is a strong candidate to set the pace, but even he really isn’t that quick. It might just be a matter of whoever wants it, gets it without much of a fight.
There’s going to be a group of horses including Pioneer and Friesan Fire that are likely in the next flight. I’d look for one of them to stalk and pounce on whoever is in the lead.
Whoever does get the lead though, yeah…they can win. They won’t have to set anywhere near the early pace that Hard Spun did back in ’07, and he almost lasted (of course, he was a fine colt in his own right).
It’ll actually be something of a disappointment from a viewing perspective if after all the buildup we get a basic merry-go-round style of race.
What was once an incredibly deep field is now really feeling the effects of the departures of The Pamplemousse (who would’ve been the early pace), Quality Road (another who likes to be near the lead), and others.
[...] up rather interestingly. Thanks to a plug from Ray Paulick, we were able to get some very interesting results from a good sampling of fans in the “10 Burning Questions” post. Make sure you head on over and participate if you haven’t done so yet. Somewhat [...]
WATCH FOR ‘UPSETS’ FROM OVERLOOKED HORSIES!!! THIS MAY BE A JOCKEY’S-WAITING-TO-MAKE-HIS-MOVE-RACE TO WIN OR LOSE???!!! No clarity other than the “closer’s” to judge by and no real outstanding speed cept the overlooked MUSKET-MAN from the gate and other sacrificial rabbit’s. REGAL RANSOM turned in an especially sharp work at CD. HOLD ME BACK saddled by the ‘trainer’s-trainer’ Bill Mott has been working well under the radar. FRIESAN FIRE was very sharp in a 5F work. ADVICE the other PLETCHER entry worked well as did WEST SIDE BERNIE and FLYING PRIVATE worked best of all for DWAYNE. THIS IS THE FIRST K-DERBY IN 20 YEARS I WILL NOT BE BETTING – NOT $1 DOLLAR NOT $2DOLLARS – NOTHING NUNCA NADA. This is a true ‘horse-race’ where i think REGAL RANSOM will vie for the lead with PIONEER-of-the-NILE and others. And then it will be a calvary charge with jockeys taking aim with as many as 5-or-6 that could get there at the wire. Heck – even TODD’it-was-the-fast-track-that-made-my-horse-lose’PLETCHER with expensive DUNKIRK (had a nice work in his last) could win this!!! Play numbers or colours or anything you think of could happen. FRIESAN FIRE off his last work could be the horse to beat – really don’t know have no ‘feel’ for this race. BUT OTHERS HAVE WORKED WELL ALSO OFF OF VICTORIES AND DEFEATS – BEWARE EXPERIENCED TRAINER’S ALLOWING THEIR HORSES BULLET WORKS AFTER SUPPOSEDLY CRUSHING DEFEATS!!! Too many horses have question marks coming in from synthetic surfaces, new jockeys, and the bugaboo that they ‘ve only raced a very limited number of times with no prevalent form. GOOD LUCK TO YOU ALL. HOPEFULLY IT WILL BE A GREAT RACE TOO WATCH?! NO BET – SAVE IT FOR THE PREAKNESS.
[...] our “10 burning questions” poll from the beginning of Derby week is any indication, the Larry Jones trainee Friesan Fire will [...]