More Derby Notes

- Rangers' captain Jaromir Jagr was asked who he likes in the Derby.

"Barbaro" he said.

When reporters told him that Barbaro was dead, he asked: "Does that mean he can't win?" [Newsday]

I didn't check with the Tim Woolley crew if it's OK yet to make Barbaro jokes. My guess would be 'no.'

- Mike Welsch now has his final observations of the Derby horses up at the Form, and as I mentioned in the comments section before, he was ga-ga over Barbaro last year. His final comments on the late son of Dynaformer were:

Nobody has trained any better here this past week. Turned in one of the best pre-Derby works seen here in years, finishing so well it was hard to tell when the work ended and the gallop out began. A picture of health. May be his race to lose.

So be sure to check out his comments here. As you might expect, he has rave reviews for most of the participants, and tabs Street Sense as the "Barbaro of this year's Derby field as far as his morning work has gone." As mentioned in the prior post, he's not thrilled with Tiago nor Stormello. And he reports that Any Given Saturday, though he "couldn't look better,"

...washed out and was agitated schooling in paddock on Wednesday. Might prove the Bluegrass Cat of this year's field if he can show a little more composure on Derby Day.

- A class action group is suing the two original owners of Curlin (attorneys who sold a controlling interest for $3.5 million to Jess Jackson and others), claiming that the pair took a disproportionate share of a settlement regarding the diet drug fen-phen. And though the two naturally deny any wrongdoing, they've been temporarily suspended from practicing law.

In the diet drug settlement, attorneys in the case were to receive $62 million in fees, but took more than twice that amount, said Angela Ford, an attorney now representing the plaintiffs. About $20 million went into a nonprofit fund in which the three lawyers set themselves up as paid board members, she said.

The plaintiffs ended up with $74 million.

Ford said her clients will be rooting for Curlin, despite their anger at Gallion and Cunningham. The group sees the horse as a lucrative asset as a judge decides how much the plaintiffs may receive from the lawyers.

"Having an identifiable asset appreciating in value is a positive thing," she said. [Lexington Herald-Reader] The asset will be quite identifiable should he win on Saturday.