103 Beyer for Barbaro

- There were less than 12,000 people at Gulfstream for their big day on Saturday, and though the NY Daily News’ Vic Ziegel noted that the new Gulfstream wasn't built to handle crowds, the AP’s Richard Rosenblatt, blogging for the NY Times, noted:

Lots of empty seats at the clubhouse, the spanking new sand-colored Spanish Mission-style building that replaced the grand old grandstand.
……
As the day wore on, several track employees noted: ''Doesn't seem crowded out there, does it?''

And noting the price tag for seating - $75 to $150 just to get into the restaurants, Rosenblatt concludes: Wonder why... In 2004, the final year of the old Gulfstream, the crowd for the Derby was 25,505.

- Dick Downey of The Downey Profile thinks he noticed something a bit awry about Barbaro after the race, and asks Did He Bleed?

We'll have to wait for word from the barn, but while Edgar Prado was being interviewed on USA Network as he was riding BARBARO back to the Florida Derby winner's circle, there was noticeable redness in BARBARO's right nostril.

Haven’t read that anywhere else, and he came out of the race fine. Barbaro earned a Beyer of 103, according to the Philly Daily News’ Dick Jerardi, who is one of the guys who does the calculations. And that’s pretty good, as well as a lifetime best. That would mean that he improved despite being off for 8 weeks; can he do so again enough to win in five weeks? Matz said: "I feel like I haven't used my horse up yet." Edgar Prado reiterated and stressed to the UK’s Racing Post that "there was much more left in the tank.”

- Lawyer Ron worked a half in 48.03 at Oaklawn on Friday as he prepares for the Arkansas Derby on the 15th.

Lawyer Ron recorded splits of: 12. 07 for an eighth of a mile,: 24. 26 for a quarter-mile and: 35. 74 for three-eighths of a mile. He galloped out five-eighths of a mile in 1: 01. 14 and three-quarters of a mile in 1: 15. 57. [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]