...And just when I was getting ready to finalize my pick, the winding and unpredictable Derby road throws a nasty curveball. This morning's news of Quality Road's latest quarter crack was a shocker. As...
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Beginning next week, we'll start analyzing the Derby field closely and talking about our picks. For now, there is still some sorting out to do and workouts to watch. In this blog, I present one very simple...
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The three prep winners this weekend were all terrific in different ways. Many questions were answered and now we are left with a pretty clear picture of the top New York and California contenders. After...
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By Kevin Stafford, The Aspiring Horseplayer A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse! Now that Quality Road has dispatched the heavily hyped Dunkirk, just where does the son of Elusive Quality belong in...
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There are three ways of looking at the Florida Derby (gr. I): the best horse won, the best horse finished second, and both horses ran sensational races and established themselves as major Kentucky Derby...
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Entering the Florida Derby, there were a couple key questions that Quality Road had to answer: Would he bounce off a huge Fountain of Youth effort and could he get two turns? The Jimmy Jerkens trainee...
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Two of the last three Kentucky Derby winners have come out of the Florida Derby, so this race demands our respect for at least that reason. Though the field is not overly-deep from top to bottom, the three...
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On several occasions over the past few years, Todd Pletcher has reached into his hat to pull out a rabbit, and in most cases the trick didn't go quite as planned. Despite some bad hare days, Pletcher has...
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So, Larry Jones wasn't blowing smoke last summer when he told me Friesan Fire was the most talented 2-year-old he ever had in his barn. After standing in the shadow of stablemate Old Fashioned for six...
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Personality-wise, Jimmy Jerkens and Julio Canani have little in common. But this week the two trainers have one important thing in common: Each has a Derby horse in his barn. Thousands of races will be...
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