Up to Triple Crown Articles

posted May 8, 2008 at 17:58 in Triple Crown Articles

Let’s take a second and look away from the dazzling online betting win by Big Brown who posted a 109 Beyer and the tragedy of Eight Belles to look at the show horse in the Kentucky Derby Denis of Cork and see what horseplayers can learn from his extraordinary effort.

The last to qualify as the 20th allowed to enter the gate, he almost pulled off the shocker coming from dead last at 27-1 to complete the trifecta.

Denis is no one trick pony. He had won his first three starts and if he had not thrown in a terrible race in the Hawthorne Derby, who would have been no worse than 5th choice in the race.

His breeding is solid and it gets better over the generations. His dam is kin to a 9-race winner and his dam’s dam is kin to some real runners as eight of her siblings banked 6-figures including the G1 winner and over $500K earner Private Persuasion.

The impressive thing that horse bettors need to zero in on for the future with Denis of Cork is the fact that he really was the only horse that was coming late.

The deceased Eight Belles was always close up and she showed she was tired late when drifting toward the rail.

Brilliantly ridden by Street Sense’s pilot Calvin Borel, Denis was almost 3 clear when putting in an effort that says he’ll adore the distance of the Belmont Stakes.

The lesson all horse bettors can learn from about Denis is that one race, good or bad, does not make a career.

This thing about Denis is nothing to take away from Big Brown, who became the first runner since 1915 to win the Derby off just 3 starts and was the first to win from post 20 since 1929 when Clyde Van Dusen, trained by his namesake, wire the field of 20-rivals.

As far as the next jewel in the Triple Crown, don’t expect the field to be loaded like it was for the Derby.

First off, astute horse bettors know that new shooters generally have a tough time in the Derby, but the fact remains that Big Brown was very impressive in his last 2 wins, though he was taxed far more than his winning margins suggest.

If horse bettors are looking for value in the Preakness, it will be there in spades. Remember, very few horses win them all and horses are always over bet after an outstanding performance.

It was evident about how stressful the Derby can be with the death of Eight Belles and Big Brown will be coming back quicker than he ever has in his life.

He was off 6 months before making his second start, came back in 24 days to take the Florida Derby, then was off about 5 weeks before the last Saturday.

Face it, 2 weeks and 2 grueling races in a row is not what the equine doctor usually orders.

Consider what Brown’s trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said in the DRF: Dutrow: “I don’t think I’ll be as confident. I really do like training a horse up to a race and I can’t do it now. It looks like he’s the best horse in the Preakness. I don’t like coming back in two weeks, but I’ve got no choice.”

Not exactly the same confidence Dutrow oozed before the Louisville run.

As far as the preps coming to this Derby, it may be wise to re-think those tune ups.

Consider this that Wood winner Tale of Ekati, SA Derby winner Colonel John, Illinois Derby winner Recapturetheglory, Arkansas Derby winner Gayego and Blue Grass hero Monba went 37-1, 9-2, 49, 18, and 31-1 respectively.

In that same order they finished 4th, 6th, 5th, 17th and dead last.

Hard-nosed horse bettors have to go back to the drawing board for action in Baltimore.

Keep checking the Locker Room all through the Triple Crown season, as we will cover the trainers, horses and jockeys in each race. You can get your early Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs bets in now in the BetUS sportsbook in the Future / props section, under Horse Futures: 2008 Kentucky Derby.