4/5 (HAW): Illinois Derby (Gr. II)

[wac]

I know that the connections know more then i do but good night did that horse look awful today. I guess there thinking was that the race woudl come up light, which i guess it did considering the winner was 15-1, and they were just trying to get some money to get him in the gate of KD. Man what a mess b/c i have a bet on him in 1st pool at 45-1 ugghh.

[packerbacker7964]

Originally Posted by IrishofNDMan

throwing DofC out, not a wise move.

Still stand by your statement?

[jcs11204]

Originally Posted by packerbacker7964

Still stand by your statement?

i threw him out, but had the wrong horse on top

Originally Posted by wac

I know that the connections know more then i do but good night did that horse look awful today. I guess there thinking was that the race woudl come up light, which i guess it did considering the winner was 15-1, and they were just trying to get some money to get him in the gate of KD. Man what a mess b/c i have a bet on him in 1st pool at 45-1 ugghh.

I was being sarcastic. He's garbage and the connections were playing games with a donkey they dressed up to look like Pegasus.

[wac]

I know Coach no harm no foul. Just dont know what to think about these 3yr olds this year. i can say this based on what ive seen and my very limited knowledge of horse racing there is no curlin, street sense, hard spun in this group. Its like none of these horses want to be the fav for KD.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Denis Of Cork's problems were a lot deeper than the fact that he wasn't as good as his Southwest win suggests and that they called audibles with his prep schedule to try and place him in what looked like the easiest spot to get him Graded Stakes earnings and increase his overall repute.

He was basically wide over a very pro-rail favoring race track - and got very little pace to set him up while the top two finishers set slow early fractions and the race had the look of a merry-go-round.

[JJP]

I'm not ready to call Hawthorne's track a speed rail bias today. There were sections of the card where it seemed that way....but what about races 1-3? It almost seemed like the inside was a detriment in those races. In the opener the chalk had a clear lead on the inside and got run down. Widish types won the next two. Then in the 4th race, the inside speed did go wire to wire. Granted, he went :25 and 49 and change so the pace likely was more of a factor than his path. THe 5th saw part of an entry go wire to wire on the inside. The 6th was a bit of a strange race as JZ Warrior was ovebet....the filly hadn't run back to her 2YO top and she was still eligible for a FNW1X....the other highly bet horse was a filly who break her maiden by over 10 earning a 89 in her only start. That 89 was earned at 5 1/2 furlongs, a distance Hawthorne rarely cards, and likely, a number that was not accurate. I didn't bet the winner, but she was usable. She'd run in stakes in 6 of her last 7 races and she hadn't run on dirt as a 3YO so one could see improvement as a possibility with her. There wasn't much speed in the Illinois Derby and one of the horses who figured to be in the top 2 setting the pace, Golden Spikes, was taking the blinkers off. In the 8th race, the Roussel firster stalked the pace wide to win. The heavy chalk wired in the 9th but in the 10th, another 1st time starter closed wide to win. Rail bias? Half the races were won by wide types so I can't say it was biased.

[hockey2315]

Is it me or did the first 5 finishers stay in the exact same spots all the way around?

[geeker2]

Originally Posted by hockey2315

Is it me or did the first 5 finishers stay in the exact same spots all the way around?

Yeah...exactly what I noted...It looked like Atoned was going to close like a bastard...but made up zero ground.

[Travis Stone]

I find it hilarious how people come on here and make statements about a race, observations, thoughts - what have you - and then after the race are quoted and ridiculed. I don't get the negativity.

Anyway, Denis of Cork was absolutely pace compromised today. I though Golden Spikes was applying enough pressure down the backstretch to wilt the pacemaker, but it didn't matter, they just continued in the carousel-like ways.

Unfortunately, Denis of Cork will unlikely have enough earnings to get in the Derby, depending on how the final handful of preps shake-out. While he's dependent on speed up-top, the whole crop is poor, so any horse who has at least won a race should be in the Derby.

[hockey2315]

It looks to me like DofC should make it in off earnings unless something drastic happens next weekend.

[Mag]

I'm happy for E.T. Baird, love watching him on a front runner, has the same gift his old man did. Hope he keeps the mount for Ky.