The Trail

[Travis Stone]

I was reading the Derby Watch via the DRF just now and it got me thinking about the various races and horses so far on the trail. I realized that I am having a hard time getting fully ramped-up at this point and I think it's because of two specific reasons:

* Synthetic surfaces have made so many of these preps hard to read, hard to figure and hard to take seriously.

* The crop seems fairly polarized -- either a horse is quite talented, or not talented enough. Horses are falling off lists with each passing start, but very few new ones are moving-up.

With each passing year I realize how much the sport has changed. There are more sprinters and milers now than there used to be. Preps that were once meaningful and indicative of potential Derby quality are now almost irrelevant. Two of the more talented horses in the crop aren't even on our half of the earth. It's just a totally new game, and I'm having a hard time adjusting.

That said, I'm really looking forward to the Florida Derby, because in my opinion horses like Dunkirk and Quality Road have the potential to really jump-up. While both are high on many lists, Quality Road still has to show me he can do it going two turns, and Dunkirk has to show he's ready to step-up so quick. Both are ridiculously talented, so hopefully the race instills a spark.