El Camino Real Derby
Frank Conversation wins this Derby prep with a soft Beyer number of 86 but I have lost respect for the usefulness of Beyer Speed numbers many years ago. Besides, Beyers speed numbers suffers from "shrinking numbers" as Beyer based his Beyers numbers on $10,000K claiming pars. (discussion for another thread)
Frank Conversation will probably stay on the synthetics with the Spiral Stakes or Blue Grass stakes as its next race. The El Camino Real had soft early fractions so we move on to evaluate other Derby prep races.
Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn Park
Grade 3 Derby prep race worth $500,000!! Great meet and great purse offerings at this meet..
In the Southwest stakes, the winner Suddenbrekingnews and the runner-up came from 14th and 11th positions away from the early pace duel over a deep track labeled at good. After an early pace of 112.1 for 6 furlongs, the closing fraction of 32.4 seems very soft. Suddenbrekingnews came home in 31.0 for his last fraction but it was accomplished with a moderate 114.0 fraction for the early 6 furlong fraction. So nothing spectacular...
Risen Star Stakes at the Fairgrounds...
A much anticipated race for the race favorite, Airoforce but Airoforce disappointed big time as he finished "up the track", second to last in the Risen Star race. The winner Gun Runner ran well but the race's energy distribution leaves much to desire. Candy My Boy exerted the early fraction in a quick 46.1 for the opening fraction and a 111.1 for 6 furlongs but the group came home staggering in 32.2 for the closing fraction.
Look for Airoforce to redeem himself but on synthetic surface as more likely, this horse prefers the quirky surface. Maybe, the Spiral Stakes or the Blue Grass will be next on the agenda.
We move forward to the upcoming Derby preps....