After an easy-as-pie triumph in the $50,000 Texas Heritage Stakes at Sam Houston on March 2, Departing will move on to bigger and better things in the Grade 2, $1 million Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds on March 30.
Michael Hammersly's weekly "Trip Notes" report, which includes graded stakes for the week of March 2-3, 2013. Included in this week's report are the Santa Anita Handicap at Santa Anita and the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct, the lone Derby prep for the weekend.
Pool 2 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager wheels back quickly this weekend at wagering outlets nationwide and online. Given the point of the season, many horses are down to one prep left on their schedules. I still want at least 20-1 or more on any plays this far out from the race given that there only should be two or three horses less than 10-1 on Derby Day itself.
The closing odds on my horses in Pool 1 of the kentucky Derby Future Wager were not what I hoped for but I’m ready to tackle Kentucky Derby Pool 2, which ends at 6 p.m. Eastern on Sunday, followed by the close of the Oaks futures pool a half-hour later.
BreezeFigs Quick-Pix for Saturday, March 2nd, 2013 by Bob Pandolfo and Jay Kilgore.
In pondering Saturday’s two richest races – the $750,000 Santa Anita Handicap and $400,000 Gotham Stakes and Aqueduct – I see chalk and chaos, respectively. So I’ll leave those two races as races to watch, not races to bet, and focus instead on races that offer more wagering appeal.
Overanalyze and Vyjack are the two favorites in the Gotham Stakes, but they face an improving 3-year-old who showed versatility in his last start and who might be able to pull off the upset.
Michael Hammersly's A's, B's, and C's for the Pick 4 ticket at Santa Anita on Saturday, March 2, 2013. He is building his ticket using DRF's free TicketMaker tool.
Making Beyer Speed Figures is an art/science based on mathematics. That was never more obvious than last Saturday at Fair Grounds .
Trainer Bob Baffert’s big horse may still be in the barn. Power Broker, unraced since a fifth-place performance in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, recently returned to the work tab and has avoided much publicity.
