Before we leave for Baltimore, another look at derby trips...

[Bobby Fischer]

First the easy ones..

Mine That Bird - obviously best trip in the race by far, benefited from the pack's inefficient dynamics

Other Great trips
Musket Rat - Of the non-MTB trips maybe the best, started cleanly saving ground the first turn, managed to not be as forward as Papa Clem and POTN, which was to Musket Rat's advantage. The advantage in race setup had the negative tradeoff of being one path wider on the 2nd turn. Pretty good case that he would have passed POTN had Gomez not fouled.

Papa Clem - Extremely Clean trip. A tiny bit too forward, but he has a forward running style, and his speed helped him to be well placed tucked in behind the speed Join In the Dance and Regal Ransom. The mad hatters over at P.A. are inexplicably bashing Bejarano for having one of the best trips in the derby... apparently he should have sent Desormeaux's middle move with Hold Me Back over the rail and (magically anticipated and) blocked Calvin Borel's rail skimming ride....

Pioneerof The Nothing - Gomez traded tactical control for a little bit more forward than was optimal(a lot if you factor Mine That Bird, but I'm not).
Easily tucked right in behind and outside of Regal Ransom to go to the first turn. A path wider than Papa Clem into turn 1. Basically remained in the same path, same forward position around turn 2.


Stopping for a moment to reflect - We see that the finishers 2-4 each had relatively perfect trips within the dynamic of the pack. Musket Man's trip was slightly better and he probably only beats POTN by a slim nose if not for Gomez's fouling, so I think if these horses had equal trips Pioneerof the Nile would be the winner, Papa Clem and Musket Man being somewhat equal behind POTN. I think this also makes a statement for the quality of that group and race. There was no orthodox standout performance (if we exclude Mine That Bird's extreme tactic aided trip), and Pioneer of The Nile is only a small degree better than clearly Grade 2 runners Papa Clem and Musket Man. The two most talented runners in the race (Friesan Fire and Dunkirk) both had troubled trips. I think it is safe to say that this year's derby wasn't any better than 2008 sans Big Brown.


Chocolate Candy- slow start actually helped him to get a better setup than most, but must have been pelted with mud all race as unlike MTB, he was always close behind the cavalry charge, didn't have anything special in the stretch.

Friesan Fire - very rough start, appeared to be stepped on/kicked by a couple horses.Ran an uncharacteristic race.
EDIT 5/08 appeared to be stepped on and bumped by Papa Clem immediately out of the gate, and then while knocked sideways appeared to be kicked by Hold Me Back.
He then staggered over to the rail which could have been horse or rider's decision, but was then wrestled away from the rail by the jockey,
where he was urged for more speed before finally settling in a cruise behind Pioneerof the Nile. /EDIT


Dunkirk - Prado looked like the slow kid in bumper cars for the first half of the race. Had that ugly start scuttling on his knees from the gate ...