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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Tough Teuflesberg on the Trail

- Dan Illman asks: Is it just me, or was Teuflesberg's win in the Southwest the worst thing that could happen to the horse? [Daily Racing Form]

I think it's just him. The horse obviously loves to race, and is certainly no worse for the wear after getting clobbered in the Juvenile last fall. In fact, he's only gotten better, with three out of four wins since, and a 100 Beyer earned on Saturday.

"He really is maturing day by day," said [trainer Jamie] Sanders, who has 46 horses in training. "He looks forward to going out to the race track every morning. He likes to go to the track and look at things. And he loves to run." [Albany Times Union]
So while Illman has the colt's best interests at heart when he worries that the connections are now going to be tempted to enter longer Derby preps, I say bring it on. I see no harm in pointing him to the Rebel as Sanders intends, and if he succeeds there, why not go on to the Arkansas Derby or Blue Grass? He doesn't seem like the type who will take a sound trouncing to heart.

I know that I'm Mr. 1-800-NODERBY, and always criticizing connections who either rush unseasoned horses to the Derby or persist with those who are obviously unqualified. But Teuflesberg doesn't easily fit into either of those categories, in my opinion. Plus, he has some interesting pedigree for stretching out (detailed here). No, I'm not touting him as my Derby horse, but that would be something, wouldn't it? We'd certainly stop hearing about all this two-prep stuff. So I'd be happy to jump on this bandwagon.

1 Comment:

Harl said...

I agree, I don't see any harm in pointing Teuflesberg to the Rebel. I doubt he'll get the longer distances, but until he comes up short, keep him going. He obviously already has a solid foundation in place.

I followed this horse during the fall of last year, but he fell off my radar after the BC Juvenile. I was surprised to learn that he has now won three of his last four and seems to hitting a stride.

That said, I'll probably bet against him in the Rebel...