Blue Grass chart
Brody's Cause rebounds back to form to win the Blue Grass with a 37.60 final fraction after going 6F in 112.60. Brody's Cause might need to improve for the run for the Roses.
Wood Memorial chart
Outwork wins an ugly race time-wise and a questionable victory over a maiden- Trojan Nation over a muddy-sealed track that was tiring over the last 3 furlongs of the 9F distance. But energy-performance- wise, there is a world of difference between fighting the early pace and fighting to the finish line versus laying far behind the early pace and making one late run at the wire. The difference was a head at the finish line but one must evaluate each horse in context of its individual performance and its form cycle. Regardless, this is an ugly race to use to evaluate Derby contenders.
Santa Anita Derby chart
The Desormeaux brothers win the Santa Anita Derby as jockey Kent Desormeaux rode his brother's trained Exaggerator to victory over a sealed sloppy track. One huge question?
....What in the world was jockey Mike Smith trying to do with his horse, Danzing Candy as his horse set blazing early pace fractions of 45.24 for 4 furlongs and 110.12 for 6 furlongs. Mike Smith has done this with Bodemeister in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and Palice Malice in the 2013 Kentucky Derby. Now, I have a lot of respect for the Hall of Fame jockey; maybe these are just isolated instances...
Exaggerator wins the Santa Anita Derby by running a default race laying far behind the extreme fast early pace set by Danzing Candy. Exaggerator ran his last 3F in 37.60 after running 6 F in 1:12 before and track variant adjustments.
The next and last major Derby prep race: the Arkansas Derby and the anticipated performance of Cupid.....