Listed Burradon S. hero Gronkowski (Lonhro {Aus}) has punched his ticket for the May 5 GI Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs, and will travel Stateside on Apr. 28, trainer Jeremy Noseda revealed. The Phoenix Thoroughbred runner has won his last four starts, and earned 50 points on the “European Road to the Kentucky Derby”. Successful in the Mar. 7 “Road to the Kentucky Derby” Conditions S., good for 20 Derby points, his margin of victory was 1 1/4 lengths in the Mar. 30 Burradon, worth another 30 points to the winner.
“I am delighted with him,” Noseda told Tattersalls. “He’s a lovely straight forward horse to deal with and everything is very much on schedule with our preparation. He leaves for America in two weeks, on Apr. 28, and by the time he leaves quarantine and starts training, it will be Tuesday morning. That’s the plan and I think it is the perfect timing for his arrival. It’s just getting him happy, fit and healthy, and then we have to find out if he goes on dirt or not. I’m pretty confident he’ll handle it well. They either do or they don’t, no matter how much you train them.”
Spahny wrote:For mid pack type horses the inside draw is a problem for me. They will be down inside of the crush heading into the first turn and likely to get boxed and bumped around. See Danza from 2014. It can be a real mess in there and there's not much the jock can do once they start trying to crowd in going into the first turn.
I played Arch Arch Arch in whatever year that was and he drew the rail. A closer is just going to drop back on the rail anyway so I don't see a huge problem. That horse broke his leg at the beginning of the race so it didn't work out but it wasn't the rail draw that caused the problem.
If your horse has good speed he can get position up front early then he won't even see 80 percent of the field going into the first turn. But if he's not a good gate horse, well then...
I guess if My Boy Jack draws the rail that's ok with me. But if Bolt d'Oro does then maybe I toss him. He is more of a mid pack type and has also had some problems breaking well from the gate. Also inexperienced runners like Justify or Magnum might not be well served drawing 1-4 post.
It also matters to me if a couple of the speed horses draw next to each other inside. They will probably be ridden out of the gate and then there's an increased chance you get that 45 opening half that everyone seems to always expect in the Derby but hasn't been happening of late.e
The Derby draw matters of course. With the number of good contenders this year it may be even more important than usual.
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