Illinois Derby
FlyinLate
Senior Member
Well as usual I'll be in attendance at the Illinois Derby this weekend @ Hawthorne.
The problem is, this a crap shoot of mostly nobody horses and I can't seem to make a selection.
Normally, I have a horse I've been watching come over for the race, but not this year.
Going over the card, I bounced back and forth between several horses. Forum favorite Irad is actually heading out this way to ride Romancing the Gold and part of me thinks this angle is as good as any.
I was originally drawn to Morgans Guerilla but looking back at the race I'm not as impressed as I had remembered. Currency Swap, if he can build off his last, is surely the one to beat, but taking a favorite in such a wide open race doesn't seem extremely logical. I was hoping to see Arm Force draw in, as I feel his maiden win was strong enough to compete with these at a huge price but odds are he won't draw in.
Sorry for the rambling gentlemen, but I guess what am I asking is does anyone like a horse in here? On a somewhat confident level at least? Maybe I'm missing something.
Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone this weekend. I'll have my full card Hawthorne selections up tomorrow.
The problem is, this a crap shoot of mostly nobody horses and I can't seem to make a selection.
Normally, I have a horse I've been watching come over for the race, but not this year.
Going over the card, I bounced back and forth between several horses. Forum favorite Irad is actually heading out this way to ride Romancing the Gold and part of me thinks this angle is as good as any.
I was originally drawn to Morgans Guerilla but looking back at the race I'm not as impressed as I had remembered. Currency Swap, if he can build off his last, is surely the one to beat, but taking a favorite in such a wide open race doesn't seem extremely logical. I was hoping to see Arm Force draw in, as I feel his maiden win was strong enough to compete with these at a huge price but odds are he won't draw in.
Sorry for the rambling gentlemen, but I guess what am I asking is does anyone like a horse in here? On a somewhat confident level at least? Maybe I'm missing something.
Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone this weekend. I'll have my full card Hawthorne selections up tomorrow.
Comments
Todd Pletcher's Our Entourage could get in there, too, but I only say that because it's a Pletcher horse and he won last time out with a decent Beyer rating.
So, not much help from me.
#5 PRETENSION, is trained by Chris Grove, who has two of my horses. He is a NY bred and last tried the Gotham and got bounced around early and was not a factor. Chris says throw out the Gotham and this one has a real chance. He has been galloping and breezing long distances and could be in as good of condition as any? 1 1/8 may make this an endurance test?
#3 RING IT UP, is owned and trained by Huskers' good friends, Mattress Mac and Chris Richard. His works at OP have been better than good and his Southwest finish was better than looks on paper. Added distance is a real plus for this one.
Currency Swap & Our Entourage are players and will be bet down accordingly. Rosie on the Gorilla horse has a bad post and the other outside entrants will be at a real disadvantage.
GOOD LUCK!
As for my selection, I can't say where I'm going yet but I've certainly narrowed down contenders.
If the race were to go off with the exact ML odds I'd be on #1 Romancing the Gold with some small WP money on Done Talking hoping he really just needed that last one and can show flashes of his 2yo form.