Is Grasshopper a walk over?

[MisterB]

Sounds like Howard is being very cautious in his prep talks now. What happened to his powerful upside when taking with Travis on the phone the other day?

He doesn't know what the Travers might have done to him, wow, he can't tell if he will flatten out now?

Same thing I would say too

[NTamm1215]

I think he is attempting to not exude too much confidence, that's never been Howard's style. Of the probables for the Super Derby, he definitely seems like the one to beat.

NT

[MisterB]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

I think he is attempting to not exude too much confidence, that's never been Howard's style. Of the probables for the Super Derby, he definitely seems like the one to beat.

NT

enjoy the day

[miraja2]

It seems to me like there are a couple of ways to look at this race.
On the one hand, Grasshopper's performance in the Travers was very good given his lack of experience. He might still be able to improve off that effort, especially since he is cutting back to 9f, which - I think - will be a better distance for him than the 10f of the Travers. In terms of speed figs, I don't think there is anybody pointing to this race who approaches the 107 BSF he ran in the Travers.
On the other hand, Grasshopper's biggest claim to fame is that he battled Street Sense so gamely down the stretch and was very close to that one at the finish line. However, Street Sense - for all of his abilities and accomplishmnets - does tend to hang a bit, which can make his competition look like they are "digging in" or "battling" a bit more than they might be in reality.
I guess what I am saying is that Grasshopper's Travers might be overrated in a way that makes him overbet in this race, but if the only colts that show up to take him on are Going Ballistic and others of that ability level, then it probably won't matter, and he'll win easily.

[King Glorious]

I have honestly not heard of any of the likely opponents for him in this race. A once proud race that was for a while the most productive prep for the BC Classic has been reduced to nothing at all. Sad.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I have honestly not heard of any of the likely opponents for him in this race. A once proud race that was for a while the most productive prep for the BC Classic has been reduced to nothing at all. Sad.

All sorts of articles in the DRF this week.

The Super Derby has still produced more BC Classic winners than any other 3-year-old race.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

All sorts of articles in the DRF this week.

The Super Derby has still produced more BC Classic winners than any other 3-year-old race.

They all came a long time ago though.

1984-Gate Dancer won the SD and finished a very close 3rd in the BC.
1987-Alysheba won the SD before being nosed out in the BC.
1988-Seeking the Gold won the SD before losing by 1/2 length in the BC.
1989-Sunday Silence pulled off the double.
1990-Unbridled ran second in the SD before winning the BC.
1994-Concern ran second in the SD before winning the BC.
1997-Deputy Commander won the SD before finishing second in the BC.
2000-Tiznow pulled off the double.

For some stupid reason, it was decided to move the race down to 9f in 2002, with the exception of the 2005 running which was back at 10f. The race has totally lost it's significance since then.

I don't normally advocate using a 10f race to prep for another 10f race. But if it's going to be an easy race, where u don't have to exert much effort to win it, then I don't have a problem with a 10f prep. The reason I don't like the JCGC is because it takes too much out of a horse to try to come back in the BC. But when it's going to be an easy race AND only 9f, that's a combination that leads to what we have with the race now. Give me an easy 10f or a tough 9f race as an ideal prep.