Well That Sucks!!!  It makes me sick to think that there are ladies out there who can’t read The Form but bet on Trainer Cherie DeVaux simply because of her gender, while I’m sitting here with my losing tickets on Renegade, indisputably the best horse in the race, who, as we knew might happen, was involved in Bumper Cars out of the gate, and shuffled back early, and had every right to be eliminated.  Somehow, he had the courage and talent to overcome his misfortunes and still appeared to be going to win a sixteenth of a mile from the wire.   Both Renegade nd the winner were 30 lengths back down the backside, which has been a popular formula for success in past Derbies, and is what I called “Preferred Running Style.” The winner, Golden Tempo, was bred and owned by the Phipps family stable, a stogy old money establishment who have ruled racing for eons, breeding horses to go the Classic Distances dating back to when I began following the horses as a teenager.  This horse is not one of them.  He was a second or third stringer at best, and did not measure up to the class of the “contenders” in Derby 152.  If the Phipps family thought that this horse was a classic animal, it would have been trained by their lifelong contract trainer, Shug McGaughey.  Instead it was relegated to Cherie DeVaux, a capable Public Stables  horsewoman, but the second or probably third string Phipps trainer.  She had to be happy to have Jose Ortiz ride her horse, but this steed was certainly not his first or send choice, despite having ridden it in all of its lifetime starts. It was more a matter of loyalty, which plays a big role in the horse racing world.  The horse didn’t follow the pattern for Phipps hopefuls and run in the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby, instead prepped in New Orleans, at Fairgrounds Race Course, where he ran all five of his lifetime starts, finishing 3^rd in his two latest Derby Preps in fields of 8 and 9 horses, earning just enough Derby Points to get into the race.   Despite having the “Preferred Running Style”, so do many of the horses campaigning at Belterra Park on a daily basis.  That cannot be the only factor in your handicapping judgement, or you would be making a case for nearly every horse in the race. As a handicapper you have to be able to separate the Wheat from the Chaff, or as we like to say, “The Shit From The Shinola.” Showing the penchant of lagging behind, and breaking from the 16^th post position, rightfully landed this horse on my Pretenders List.

All four of my key horses – Renegade, Commandment, Incredibolt, and Wonder Dean, ran in the top eight.  Commandment too had traffic trouble in the stretch, costing him a higher placement, but he was not a threat to win the race.  As suspected Further Ado, while dominant at Keeneland didn’t fare well in an 18 horse field when things didn’t go his way.  Great White’s flipping and being a late scratch causing a delay did us no favors.  Perhaps, had he loaded professionally we would have a different Derby Winner, not him, but perhaps the traffic gods would have smiled more favorably on Renegade.  The other two horses in the Top Eight finishers that I did not have were Ocelli, who was bred exclusively for Turf.  Obviously, someone forgot to tell him, and the other was Chief Wallabee, a lightly raced talented horse that my good friend and former broadcast partner, Frank Neimeyer, tried to tout me on, but citing the “You can’t bet ‘em all” clause, I passed.  None of this mattered since I didn’t like the winner.  The one bright spot for me was that So Happy ran just like I thought he would, a fast-fading ninth.  Anyone who listened to the touts who only cover the Derby once a year, and got caught up in the newly widowed owner hype, got just what they asked for – a fistful of souvenir tickets.

I don’t see the winner running in the Preakness, but waiting for the Belmont, held again this year at Saratoga.  I expect that Renegade, Commandment, Further Ado, Chief Wallabee, and maybe Ocelli and Great White to show up in Baltimore or wherever they are running the second leg of the Triple Crown.

I will sleep well tonight, having gotten up early (9am) to put Boys Basketball Camp Yard Signs out at the MAC, swung my McDonalds for a fix of Egg McMuffins, began following Brossart Baseball (11am to 5pm) and the races from Churchill Downs at 11am, watched the Reds walk seven straight batters and lose 17-7 to Pittsburgh.  A quick trip to Dominos for wings and Cinnamon Bread for dinner, and here at 11pm am sitting here writing (and fuming) about our Derby woes.

I’m sure I will have additional musings in the next few days, but that’s it for now.