Road To The Kentucky Derby 2010

Bob Baffert was not happy with the ride by Garrett Gomez on Lookin At Lucky in the Santa Anita Derby. Looking At Lucky got stuck down on the rail and had to check badly when Who's Up came across him losing all chance on winning.

Baffert blamed Gomez for a bad ride.
“It was bad luck. It was a bad trip," Baffert said. "You can’t be on the inside on this track. (Gomez) took him back and he was fighting him. It was horrendous; his ride was horrendous. It’s unfortunate. The horse is a good horse. That’s the thing about synthetic. They’re not going to go fast. Keep him up there. He’s so afraid to let this horse run early, and it’s a shame, because that’s not Garrett. I don’t know why. He threw an interception.”
Baffert said he could not say if he would replace Gomez. “I’m not going to talk about that right now," he said. "I cannot believe he rode him that way. It’s ridiculous.”
Asked about the inquiry that followed, in which stewards made no change in the order of finish, Baffert said: “I didn’t really care. When I saw him on the rail, I said, ‘What is he doing?’ He must not have seen Jerry Bailey’s tape. We’re going to buy him some DVDs.”

According to witnesses, Gomez was involved in a scuffle with Victor Espinoza, the rider of Who's Up, at the weigh-in scale after the race.
 
Jockey Victor Espinoza has received a three-day suspension for his riding in the Santa Anita Derby (gr. I) April 3, while Garrett Gomez was fined $750 for punching Espinoza afterward.

Frightening stuff when you think about it as there is a major feud between the jockeys and connections.

There could have been carnage in this Group 1 and the fine is a joke on both sides.

I doubt if we have heard the last of it.
 
Todays final preps for the Derby produced a 40/1 winner in Stately Victor in the G1 Blue Grass and Line Of David an outsider in the G1 Arkansas Derby. Not really impressed by either win

Eskendereya is much the best of what I have seen so far...he will be close to even money for the Kentucky Derby after today.
 
Connemara's only chance would be in the Belmont... maybe placed at best.. just too slow.

Can't see Eskendereya getting beaten given normal luck in running.

He is clearly the best horse so far but the Derby with 20 runners, track and draw there is always a chance of defeat on the day.
 
Last edited:
Galileo said:
Powerscourt have you been hearing/reading anything about possible soundness issues ith Eskendereya?
Click to expand...

Not at all. There maybe a concern about him duplicating his first two runs this year in that he may have already peaked but I would not be too concerned. If he runs his race he wins it. The 10 furlongs will suit him better than most. Could see Sidneys Candy the one to chase him home.
 
Eskendereya to Be Sold Under Zayat Plan

By Ron Mitchell
Updated: Sunday, April 18, 2010 9:42 AM
Posted: Sunday, April 18, 2010 9:17 AM



Zayat Stables has agreed to sell all of grade I winner and probable Kentucky Derby favorite Eskendereya this year under a bankruptcy reorganization plan that projects all creditors will be paid in full by the end of 2014.
As part of the voluminous reorganization plan filed in New Jersey federal bankruptcy court April 16, Zayat Stables and its managing member and officer, Ahmed Zayat, project various income and expense scenarios under which creditors will be paid.
The documents project Zayat will have income from the sale of horses of $16.8 million, $15.2 million, $10 million, $11 million, and $11 million in 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively.
"The projections assume that the debtor will sell a sufficient number of horses, including 100% of Eskendereya in 2010...A non-refundable deposit of $2 million is assumed to be received in September 2010 from the sale of Eskendereya, with the remaining Eskendereya proceeds assumed to be received in December 2010."
The projections do not place a value on Eskendereya (Giant's Causeway --Aldebaran Light, by Seattle Slew), the winner of the Wood Memorial (gr. I) and Fasig-Tipton Fountain of Youth Stakes (gr. II) who is likely to be favored in the May 1 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) at Churchill Downs.
Bred in Kentucky by Sanford Robertson and purchased by Zayat as a yearling for $250,000, Eskendereya has earned $725,700.
Zayat filed for bankruptcy protection earlier this year after Fifth Third Bank filed suit seeking payment on loans totaling more than $34 million. Zayat claimed bank lenders promised and then withdraw assurances that his loan portfolio would be extended; otherwise he would have sold a sufficient number of horses to satisfy outstanding loan obligations. The bankruptcy filing was designed to ward off efforts by Fifth Third to have the Zayat horses sold to satisfy the loans.​
 
The filly Devil May Care will now probably run in the Derby ..Rule is out ..

Pletcher will probably still have 4 in it....still looking for his first Derby
 
This renewal is getting more and more difficult by the minute. I like Endorsement.
 
The draw for Saturday

1.Looking at Lucky
2.Ice Box
3 Nobles Promise
4 Super Saver
5 Line of David
6 Stately Victor
7 American Lion
8 Deans Kitten
9 Make Music For Me
10 Paddy O Prado
11 Devil May Care
12 Conveyance
13 Jackson Bend
14 Mission Impazible
15 Discreetly Mine.
16 Awesome Act
17 Dublin
18 Backtalk
19 Homeboykris
20 Sidney's Candy
 
There is still no news as to the seriousness of his injury .. so I doubt if we will see him in any of the Triple Crown races.

70 % chance of thunderstorms on Saturday ...if it is a sloopy track I like Paddy O'Prado as a longshot
 
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