Expectations

The Derby trail heats up this weekend with the Louisiana Derby; Pyro is back (and even has his own Wikipedia entry) and faces Majestic Warrior and Tale of Ekati, both of whom I have very much been looking forward to seeing. Blackberry Road seems to be a cut below the top class, but you never know what might happen at this time of year -- note Absolutely Cindy's upset in the Battaglia last weekend. But how did these promising three-year-olds make it to this point? That's the question the Blood-Horse's Nicanor blog hopes to answer. I think this is a good marketing move for the Blood-Horse (yes, sometimes I do say Good Things about the industry!) to continue to cultivate newcomers brought to the sport by Barbaro's story, but it's quite a lot for him to live up to. Given that his other elder half brother Holy Ground (frankly, not the most attractive stallion in the world) stands for $3500 and Man in Havana (more of a looker, if not a runner) was unraced, the odds are not on his side as far as superhorse potential, but Hasili and Better Than Honour (soon to be bred back to AP Indy after aborting another AP Indy foal earlier this year) demonstrate that some mares just have it. In any case, it should be good fun watching a well-bred colt work toward his debut, but hopefully expectations will be kept within the realm of reasonable. Breeders' Cup president Greg Avioli responded to some of the criticism surrounding Ladies' Day, although he still does not address the question of how a Friday slot is anything but a demotion for a great race (particularly since those of us who can afford to bet tend to be employed). I've said many times I am in favor of making some changes, but ghetto-izing the filly and mare races is not the way to go. Were the Breeders' Cup run over a real weekend, including Saturday and Sunday, I would be very supportive of the new endeavor. In the meantime, here's hoping they keep trying...