2024 Three Year Olds

[stark]

Chad Brown has selected
@iradortiz
to ride his GIII Tampa Bay Derby winner Domestic Product (Practical Joke) in this year's GI
@KentuckyDerby
.

The horse’s regular rider Tyler Gaffalione will stick with Blue Grass winner Sierra Leone.

[BaroqueAgain1]

IMHO, this is one case where Irad did not get the plum mount.
Good for Tyler.

[Izvestia]

IMHO, this is one case where Irad did not get the plum mount.
Good for Tyler.

This tickles me pink.

[Tessablue]

Here’s some head-on footage of SL from Saturday:

https://x.com/derby1592/status/1777183040252604683

It's wild how he manages to cover sooooo much ground with all of that extra action. Mage and Essential Quality paddled too, but this guy does it way more. Must be tough to keep him sound.

Looking forward to Derby workout season! I wonder if a strong or weak training effort could tip the scales RE: who goes favored.

EDIT: The Beyer for the Risen Star has been raised by five points, per DRF: https://www.drf.com/news/risen-star-bey ... ive-points

Given that the top five from this race will be in the Derby (Sierra Leone, Track Phantom, Catching Freedom, Resilience, Honor Marie), this is a fairly big deal!

[KatieK101]

I don’t know much about paddling. Is it something that can be eventually corrected with training? Especially if it can impact their soundness?

If so, I assume you would have to start younger than SL is now.

[KatieK101]

Here’s some head-on footage of SL from Saturday:

https://x.com/derby1592/status/1777183040252604683

It's wild how he manages to cover sooooo much ground with all of that extra action. Mage and Essential Quality paddled too, but this guy does it way more. Must be tough to keep him sound.

Vekoma had some rough paddling action too. I remember his was pretty obvious, was he worse than EQ or Mage? I don’t recall noticing it with them as much.

[Tessablue]

Vekoma had some rough paddling action too. I remember his was pretty obvious, was he worse than EQ or Mage? I don’t recall noticing it with them as much.

Oh I forgot about Vekoma, good call! To memory, his action was absolutely terrible- you could argue that it limited his distance capabilities, but his pedigree was pretty suspect as well. St Trinians also stands out as a racehorse with pretty crazy movement.

I think the action is almost entirely based on conformation, so it can't really be improved via training, but I could be wrong on this (and it sure hasn't stopped people from sending mares to Vekoma). Horses sometimes have a more pronounced paddle when they are tired, and it can make them difficult to keep sound. Arabian Knight has a pretty bad paddle as well, so it wasn't surprising when ended up missing time last year.

[Flanders]

Quite a few Candy Ride's have this paddling stride. I don't remember Gun Runner having it thought.

[Missbeholder]

IMHO, this is one case where Irad did not get the plum mount.
Good for Tyler.

And he didn't get the mount on the likely favorite Fierceness either! With Irad confirmed on Domestic Product, that one appears to belong to Johnny V! YAY!

[Curtis]

Quite a few Candy Ride's have this paddling stride. I don't remember Gun Runner having it thought.

He didn’t. The worst was Vekoma who looked like two different horses were adhered together, front & back, when he moved. I don’t remember either Sidney’s Candy or Twirling Candy paddling. Candy Ride himself was a pretty mover, from what I remember. I’ve always wondered if mares with poor actions have been bred to him hoping that he’d correct them?

[Timely Writer]

Quite a few Candy Ride's have this paddling stride. I don't remember Gun Runner having it thought.

Shared Belief

[Curtis]

Quite a few Candy Ride's have this paddling stride. I don't remember Gun Runner having it thought.

Shared Belief

And Game Winner, Rock Your World, etc.

[Flanders]

Everdoit is entered in the Lexington this weekend. He is the horse that lost his rider in the Sam F. Davis on Feb. 10th and then ran poorly in the Tampa Bay Derby on March 9th. He has ran 3 times since then including a 6th in an Allowance on Wednesday(April 10th) at Keeneland and he is entered again on Saturday? Are they allowed to race back in 3 days?? This will be his 5th start since March 9th.

[tachyon]

-- from Paulick Report (by Frank Mitchell)

''The Family Ties Between Kentucky Derby Hopefuls Sierra Leone And Forever Young''

https://paulickreport.com/features/bloo ... ever-young

[Izvestia]

It’s interesting to me how horses are treated in media depending on their associated humans. For example, Stronghold. The Derby Dozen doesn’t think keenly of him:
“Often, the Santa Anita Derby (G1) winner is a top-five Derby prospect. Not this year. Though Stronghold was game in outrunning Imagination in the 1 1/8-mile race this past Saturday, it was not a vintage renewal of the Santa Anita Derby. Maymun , who likely would have been the public choice, was notably absent from the entries, and finishing third was E J Won the Cup , a horse not nominated to the Triple Crown who has won a maiden race and the Turf Paradise Derby. Stronghold is an honest competitor who won the Sunland Park Derby (G3) this winter, but others seem faster and classier. This colt has a win at Churchill Downs, having begun his career in Kentucky before heading to the West Coast.”

I am not disputing what they said but thought it interesting they brought up a horse who wasn’t in the race (Maymun). I’m curious (and I will never know) what they would say if Imagination had won and was off to the Derby…

Quote from https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing ... erby-dozen

[Tessablue]

They aren't wrong about the race being on the slower side, but the Maymun angle is a bit silly. Stronghold and Maymun both beat the same horse by the exact same margin, and Maymun had the better trip in his race.

Of course, the good news is that people often tend to put their money on those humans, which can result in more money for the rest of us

[Izvestia]

Yep, like I said, not disputing with them… but definitely scratched my head at that write up.

[tachyon]

Forever Young will bring an interesting intrigue to the Derby since he is undefeated.

https://www.drf.com/news/forever-young- ... ucky-derby

Forever Young clocked 1:57.89, about an average time for the U.A.E. Derby, but did turn in a strong 24-second final 400 meters. That not only topped the U.A.E. Derby but was faster than any final 400 meters in the 2,000-meter Dubai World Cup.

Kate Hunter says he is scheduled to ship to the US on April 10th

Forever Young has landed at Chicago.

[CoronadosQuest]

Forever Young will bring an interesting intrigue to the Derby since he is undefeated.

https://www.drf.com/news/forever-young- ... ucky-derby

Forever Young clocked 1:57.89, about an average time for the U.A.E. Derby, but did turn in a strong 24-second final 400 meters. That not only topped the U.A.E. Derby but was faster than any final 400 meters in the 2,000-meter Dubai World Cup.

Kate Hunter says he is scheduled to ship to the US on April 10th

Forever Young has landed at Chicago.

Thank you for the update! I was wondering when he was going to arrive!

[tachyon]

Forever Young will bring an interesting intrigue to the Derby since he is undefeated.

https://www.drf.com/news/forever-young- ... ucky-derby



Kate Hunter says he is scheduled to ship to the US on April 10th

Forever Young has landed at Chicago.

Thank you for the update! I was wondering when he was going to arrive!

You are welcome!
I hope that he will get acclimated to a new environment!!