I get a thrill every year around this time when I look at the Derby prep races and all of the horses have the Triple Crown nomination symbol next to their breeding lines in the DRF PPs.

Several years ago I spent a cold wet miserable February in Dublin Ireland. My humble advice for the backers of the colt Dublin (Afleet Alex out of Classy Mirage) in the G3 Southwest at Oaklawn on Saturday is to wait for his races in April and May. This colt will be rounding into form nicely during the warmer months, a much more pleasant experience than Dublin in February.

I don’t understand why both the Blood-Horse staff written piece and DRF’s Mike Welsch never mentioned the stewards’ inquiry of the stretch run in yesterday’s 8th race at GP. From the head-on shot it looked like the eventual winner Doubles Partner and Chris DeCarlo really made their own hole at the rail when the horse dug his right shoulder into Saint Eligius who then went into Lentenor. Both Lentenor and Saint Eligius were pushed several paths wide of the eventual winner. Maybe not enough to take him down in the eyes of the stewards but well worth a mention in the journals of record. Add the Paulick Report slug line “Lentesnore” and you get a distinct feeling Barbaro’s (over hyped?) little brother is getting written off a bit too early in the game. Look for Lentenor to prove himself later this spring, possibly in an emotion generating appearance in the Preakness.

A local Chinese restaurant has a special dish called the Triple Crown: it includes jumbo shrimp, beef and chicken in a spicy Hong Kong sauce all for a mere $11.00… far cheaper than what I’ll be playing on May 1st.
Happy Derby Trails.