Comment Commentary

I love receiving comments, my first real Internet exposure was with horse racing message boards and I am still quite active at one in particular. Each have benefits and drawbacks, the one drawback with blogs is that sometimes it can seem quite lonely. I'm thankful for the regular feedback of Gerry and Joseph. Comments give me idea's about what to write about and also give me a better feeling of what the few people who visit here like to read. So if you enjoy Kennedy's Corridor let me know what you like or would like to see more of. And of course if you have any questions or disagree with something I wrote let me know.

Here are some questions put forth in comments that I'll endeavor to answer.

Some random thoughts... could the top 3 places in the 2007 seven derby go to pletcher?
Very easily, Pletcher is loaded and unlike Zito in 2005 he has a few quality Derby contenders who are being prepped well. I could certainly see a trifecta of Any Given Saturday, Circular Quay and Sam P.

Could the top three positions go to any of the bc juvenile starters?
I think is is almost a safer bet than the one above. I'm not a huge Street Sense fan but clearly the top juveniles from last year are also the top 3yo's from this year.

When are we going to see 105 beyers by a few of the derby contenders?
Traditionally we see more of those in the last preps. In the last 11 years there has been 62 Derby starters who achieved a 105 Beyer or more in a prep race. 32 of them only achieved that mark in their final prep.

What is the influence of the poly-track on some of the current and future beyers?
It is my personal feeling that due to insufficient back data the Beyer figures achieved on Polytrack are actually lower than they would be on dirt. There is a well documented discrepancy between dirt and turf figures and I think that Polytrack fits somewhere in the middle. In my mind a 100 on Polytrack is about equal to a 103 on dirt.

Are we going to see a freak beyer ala bellamy road or war emblem this year?
I think we will, we basically do every year. A 120 is perhaps not realistic to expect but every Derby since 1999 has seen a Beyer Figure of 111 or more achieved in one of the final preps.

Can you compare curlin to a strike the gold?
I don't have complete PP data on Strike the Gold but I don't really see any similarities. The Derby winner that Curlin may resemble the closest is Fusaichi Pegasus. From the family of Mr Prospector, lightly raced, was sort of highly touted right after his maiden. Had good tactical speed and seemed to get to the finish line pretty quick.

I read that summer doldrums beyer was down graded, what's with that?
Beyer Speed figures are sometimes adjusted as they decide that they got the variant all wrong. Personally I think its a bogus revision. They didn't change the number until after the Gotham. The fact that he ran poorly next time out should not factor into it. I don't know why they felt that his future races need to justify his past figure. Lawyer Ron never did.

I read that summer doldrums scoped really dirty after his last race.. will he rebound?
yes he did apparently scope dirty and in my mind he is an excellent candidate to bounce back at a price. He ran poorly last out and even his best career race was downgraded. I personally believe that his Whirlaway performance was worthy of a lofty figure, not the 94 it has now. He could be excellent value.

Will hard spun and nobiz like shobiz rebound next out?
Well Hard Spun answered this question himself with a superb display in the Lane's End. Nobiz Like Showbiz is a riskier proposition in my mind. Blinkers may fix him, then again they may not. He has never run a really fast figure in his life and this is his last chance before the Derby. He needs to run a fast and professional race and the task might be too much for him. I'm personally more excited about Summer Doldrums prospects for bouncing back because of the value factor. Nobiz is capable, just less likely in my opinion.