Good Monday morning to all the Degens out there. Hope everyone had a great and profitable weekend. Normally I try to mix in some other sports, but this past weekend was all about horse racing for me. We had everything from great Derby prep races to jock’s room scuffles. If that doesn’t get your blood pumping, I’m not sure you even like this game.
First up was the Southwest Stakes from Oaklawn Park. Essential Quality headlined the field of 7 going 1 1/16th miles over the sloppy track in Arkansas. Essential Quality did not disappoint as he stalked the pace from the 3 path and took over in the stretch. It looked like Spielberg had a shot to run down the favorite, but just wasn’t good enough as Essential Quality drew off in hand. This performance puts him right at the top of my Derby contenders list. It was as good of a race that I’ve seen out of this crop.
The Fountain of Youth was up next from Gulfstream Park where Greatest Honour once again proved to be the class of the Florida crop. He was far back and came roaring home to pass Drain the Clock near the 16th pole and did it easily. My biggest issue with this performance was the competition. The only other horse that ran well is Drain the Clock. I don’t mind Saffie taking a shot here to see what his horse had and realizing that this horse is better served going one turn. So, I commend him on pulling him from the Derby trail and putting him in spots he can win in the future. I worry a bit that Greatest Honour won’t get as clean a trip as he has been getting when we hit that first Saturday in May. Still, the horse is nice, and this crop as a whole excites me. We should have four or five legit contenders come Derby Day which means that the bettors will be reaping the benefits of some fair prices.
The jocks at Gulfstream have apparently been watching some old school NASCAR highlights and went to throwing haymakers on the undercard Saturday. There was an incident between Paco Lopez and Irad Ortiz Jr that was caught on video after they had a disagreement about the race. One thing everyone needs to know is that you shouldn’t ever fight a Jockey. They are strong, they are tough and most of them have been fighting their whole lives.
That’s all for this week, we have the Tampa Bay Derby and San Felipe Stakes this weekend. Once again, there will be plenty of action over on the StableDuel app, including our newest contest, the LB’s Meat Market Monday contest from Parx. Make sure you download the app and get in the game. See you next week.
