1. Wood Memorial--after some down years in the late 80s/early 90s, this race has produced the past 2 Derby winners (and the 3rd place finisher last year). No surprise here as this definitely appeared to be the deepest prep.
2. Spiral Stakes--Going out on a limb here. Perfect Drift and Request for Parole are live longshots for the Derby and they have both the speed figures and running styles to be factors. The fact that Azillion ran so poorly in the Blue Grass should only help inflate the prices of these two. R for Parole had close 2nd place finishes to both Harlan's Holiday and Repent as a 2YO so he's faced other quality horses besides Perfect Drift.
3. Blue Grass/Fla Derby--both of these were basically match races between Harlan's Holiday and Booklet, and Booklet really looks more like a miler. Azillion didn't run at all in the Blue Grass which led me to believe he was hurt.
5. Louisiana Derby--A field with Repent, War Emblem and Easyfromthegitgo was stronger than this year's Santa Anita Derby.
2. Spiral Stakes--Going out on a limb here. Perfect Drift and Request for Parole are live longshots for the Derby and they have both the speed figures and running styles to be factors. The fact that Azillion ran so poorly in the Blue Grass should only help inflate the prices of these two. R for Parole had close 2nd place finishes to both Harlan's Holiday and Repent as a 2YO so he's faced other quality horses besides Perfect Drift.
3. Blue Grass/Fla Derby--both of these were basically match races between Harlan's Holiday and Booklet, and Booklet really looks more like a miler. Azillion didn't run at all in the Blue Grass which led me to believe he was hurt.
5. Louisiana Derby--A field with Repent, War Emblem and Easyfromthegitgo was stronger than this year's Santa Anita Derby.
