Another big effort from Hard Spun

[The Indomitable DrugS]

I remember the big fuss that was made in Europe when they watched supposed superhorse Fusaichi Pegasus, win the Kentucky Derby as the favorite, while having an easy time of it weaving through the pack....and having Wheelaway as a lead-blocker didn't hurt either.

I cashed on Fu Peg that day---and it's never easy to admit that the horse you bet on, that won, really wasn't the horse who ran the best race---and it's even harden when that horse was the favorite coming in.

Well, the European folks who made a fuss about Fu Peg's trip, and badmouthed the ability of American jockeys, are going to die laughing when they see the film of this race.

Hard Spun, who's last performance in the Southwest Stakes (when he was rated) was certainly the most underrated performance by a 3-year-old in any Derby prep, made the lead today and did so setting very lively fractions. The horses racing 2nd, 3rd, and 4th after a half mile, finished 17th, 19th, and 20th, all of them eased and practically walking by the time they crossed the wire.

Hard Spun, to his credit, was not giving much ground away to Street Sense in the final furlong. It would have been utterly impossible for Street Sense to have beaten him if he tried to circle the pack, and highly unlikely for him to have won if he had to weave his way in and out of the pack.

Hopefully the six week layoff going into the Derby today, and the big race he ran, won't be his undoing when he runs back in the Preakness, off of three times less rest.