One Liner smartly ran down Petrov and earned a very good 102 BSF. I picked Petrov on top but knew going in that he was probably a miler so One Liner seemingly went by a horse at the end of his distance rope. I am not sure how strong the top two Southwest players will be when they hit nine panels and beyond.
Lookin At Lee was up for the show but ended up 11+ lengths behind the top pair. He wants more ground but needs to run faster.
If I have see it once I have seen it a thousand times. Big wet track wins are rarely duplicated over a different set of circumstances and that was definitely true for Smarty Jones hero Uncontested (fading 6th in Southwest). He had to work harder earlier to secure the early lead on a fast track at a longer distance and came up empty in the drive at underlaid odds. He has distance limitations due to uneven energy distribution.
As for the other Derby prep last weekend, Zakarof earned a 77 BSF and paid a whopping $99.60 in the El Camino Real Derby at Golden Gate Fields. The nine furlong synthetic route was slow and most likely will not have any impact on the first Saturday in May.
The lone Derby points race this week is the Grade II Risen Star from Fair Grounds. I planned on doing a video preview of this race but ran out of time...sorry about that.
The Lecomte figure on a wet track came up below par so horses not exiting that event (Girvin, Local Hero, U S Officer, Cool Arrow, Mo Town, Sorry Erik, Horse Fly, It’s Your Nickel, So Conflated) are worth a second look in the Risen Star.
Mo Town smartly won the Remsen to end his juvenile campaign but that race is looking like a negative prep after runner-up No Dozing failed to fire in the Sam F. Davis and show finisher Takaful was drubbed in the Jerome.
Local Hero landed the place in his first two extended sprints and ran off the screen in his two turn maiden win at Fair Grounds Jan 26. Asmussen’s $500,000 purchase might be able to go all the way in his graded stakes debut. He is my top choice in the Risen Star.
Jarrod Horak’s “Exceptional Eleven" Kentucky Derby 2017 Contenders (Updated 2-25-17)
#1 - MASTERY
#2 - McCraken
#3 - El Areeb
#4 - Gormley
#5 - Three Rules
#6 - Practical Joke
#7 - Irish War Cry
#8 - Royal Mo
#9 - Classic Empire
#10 - Theory
#11 - Battalion Runner
You can read my entire Kentucky Derby 2017 contenders update blog at The Runaway Horse.
* Churchill Downs photo by Stacy Edwards
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