Rating the Kentucky Derby Best Eleven
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Posted by BarbaraAnne Helberg Apr 13, 2009 |
General Quarters answered the bell in the prime Kentucky Derby prep, the Blue Grass Stakes. The Sky Mesa colt gets a Derby-qualifying bankroll and points in my rankings this time around. In February, GQ won the Sam F. Davis.
Old Fashioned, unbeaten until he went second to Win Willy in the Rebel Stakes, placed Saturday in the Arkansas behind Papa Clem, already a graded stakes Derby qualifier. Old Fashioned won't slip away that easily. He is Unbridled's Song strong.
Dunkirk, who hasn't raced since his second place finish to Quality Road in the Florida Derby, benefitted the most from the results of Saturday's preps. His graded stakes earnings are in question, so he's waiting to see who can get ahead of him in that category in the final weeks of Derby preps.
Here's My Revised Kentucky Derby Best Eleven this Week:
- Friesan Fire
- Pioneerof The Nile
- Quality Road
- I Want Revenge
- Hold Me Back
- Musket Man
- Desert Party
- Chocolate Candy
- Old Fashioned
- General Quarters
- Dunkirk
Dunkirk has gained ground for total graded stakes earnings over Win Willy and Crowded House (GB), as well as Bittel Road and Azul Leon, The Pamplemousse, and Imperial Council while favorites already ahead of him won again.
Quality Road's eyeballing dismissal of Dunkirk in the Florida Derby, however, left doubts in my mind as to Dunkirk's intestinal fortitude, while Pioneerof The Nile looked young and eager and ratable in the Santa Anita, and Friesan Fire's three impressive runs, along with his pedigree, still whispers in my ear.
Well-pedigreed Hold Me Back's second in the Blue Grass after his Lane's End victory seems to signal that he's ready, and I Want Revenge's quality recovery in the Wood is too much to ignore. Musket Man was great in the Illinois Derby.