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Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Derby Odds and Ends

What You Won't See: A photo finish, most likely. Since 1903, just four Derbies have been decided by a nose, with only one picture needed in the last 44 years. There was a string of close races in the late '90s, starting with Grindstone's razor-thin decision over Cavonnier, but the winner is usually in the clear at the wire. The average winning margin for the last 35 Derbys is two lengths; for the last five, it's been three. [FOX]

SMARTY HEADED FOR HOLLYWOOD: The Wolper Organization, a production company affiliated with Warner Brothers, has acquired the television and feature film rights to the Smarty Jones story. Producer/director Billy Rappaport is developing a script to capture the colorful story of the horse who overcame a near-fatal injury to win last year's Kentucky Derby and Preakness....No word yet on who will play the lead. [Sun-Sentinal]
(Ugh.) So I looked up Billy Rappaport on the Internet Movie Database (http://www.imdb.com) to see what else he’s done, but I couldn’t find anyone by that name, and they have everyone. Who is this guy?

Did you see this quote in Bill Christine’s column today from Greater Good’s trainer Bob Holthus??
"Afleet Alex is a very talented horse, but he's not in as good a physical condition as he was when he won the Arkansas Derby....The hair on his coat isn't as good. He looks like he's dehydrated." [LA Times]
What do you make of that? Have you ever seen a trainer dis another horse like that? And more importantly.....is he right?

1 Comment:

SantaBarbarian said...

Don't listen to the LATimes....

I call it the kiss of death. I go through the DRF for my picks and then go to the Times to see if they like any ponies on my list. If they do like any...I immediately toss them out.