tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post114472245647469067..comments2024-03-05T05:38:22.024-05:00Comments on Left at the Gate: Monday Night Notes - Apr 10Alan Mannhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12570505944559196118noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-1144981515477900942006-04-13T22:25:00.000-04:002006-04-13T22:25:00.000-04:00Are you crazy ? Brother Derek will be under 7/2 no...Are you crazy ? Brother Derek will be under 7/2 no matter who is in the race. His SA Derby was monster and Solis never asked for anything. Can't ask for more. I have him at 10-1 in the future book and could not be happier. If he doesn't get left at the gate or fall down, he walks home.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8711985.post-1144737183413897952006-04-11T02:33:00.000-04:002006-04-11T02:33:00.000-04:00...you raise some intereting points...it's entirel......you raise some intereting points...it's entirely possible he'll get bumped or forced extremely wide on the turn, or have to steady or check and perhaps engage on a tooth-and-nail battle to the wire...and most of those things would be new to him...i will point out that he body-slammed Your Tent Or Mine leaving the gate in the Hollywood Futurity, and it didn't faze him any...granted, he was the bump-er and not the bump-ee, but it was a very hard bump just the same...speaking of which, what a shame that YTOM went AWOL...what a great rivalry that could've been...i'm still not convinced Brother Derek was the best horse in that race...moving East, you'd have to think that Bob and John's Wood Memorial win flatters Brother Derek a little bit, since he had torched that one in the Futurity, and and did the same thing to A.P. Warrior and Point Determined, who each beat Bob and John last time...i might also point out that Bob and John beat Keyed Entry, who beat Sweetnorthernsaint in the Gotham, who starred with Kevin Bacon in Wild Things...or something like that...i did catch the Illinois Derby btw, and thought Sweetnorthernsaint looked real good, though i was honestly paying more attention to Cause To Believe, who came up looking pretty flat (i guess you can toss him out of my Top 6)...as for Discreet Cat, no way does he go favored, at least not here in America...but that has nothing to do with his talent level, or his relative chance of winning the race...it'll be because guys like Watchmaker and Free (and probably many others) will be screaming from the rooftops for two weeks that "Discreet Cat can't win the Derby", because he's only had two preps or he last ran in Dubai or because he'll be wearing Godolphin blue...and i'm sure it'll come up that Dettori blew the BC Classic @ Churchill Downs aboard Swain...no doubt he'll have his supporters (as well he should), but i don't see Discreet Cat lower than 6/1 or so on raceday, assuming he shows up for the race...in fact, he could well go higher than that, as Brother Derek will certainly pull more money and Barbaro likely will as well, and Lawyer Ron will have a huge throng of followers should he look good again in the Ark Derby...incidentally, should Strong Contender win the Blue Grass impressively and arrive @ Churchill with "win contender" status, it'll be VERY interesting to see if the same guys laughing off Discreet Cat's chances will do the same with Strong Contender...that one will have had just as light a campaign, lighter even, when you cponsider that the Derby would only be his second two-turn race (good grief)...<BR/><BR/>...btw, i'd like to remind you guys that i bet Brother Derek @ 56/1 in the Breeders Cup...i also passed on him @ 100/1 a few days before his Hollywood Futurity win...and now, he's the main threat to kill my "All Others" bet from Pool One...damn that Brother Derek... 8^PAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com