Derby prospects (1) · 6.03.09

I put a bet on with a bookie
For a race they run over in Kentucky…
— Sandy Denny, “I’m a Dreamer”

It’s that time of year again, when horseplayers and other racing fans start tracking prospects for the Kentucky Derby. It seems like everybody and their dog has compiled a list of likely contenders — here’s three of the most recent:

Steve Haskin’s Derby Dozen

  1. Old Fashioned
  2. Pioneerof the Nile [no it’s not a typo, that’s how his name is spelled]
  3. Patena
  4. Desert Party
  5. Quality Road
  6. Dunkirk
  7. I Want Revenge
  8. The Pamplemousse
  9. Hello Broadway
  10. Friesan Fire
  11. Theregoesjojo
  12. Imperial Council

Paulick Derby Index — actually a compilation of top-10 lists from over thirty journalists and bloggers

  1. Old Fashioned
  2. Pioneerof the Nile
  3. Friesan Fire
  4. Quality Road
  5. The Pamplemousse
  6. Dunkirk
  7. Desert Party
  8. Stardom Bound
  9. Patena
  10. Hello Broadway
  11. Haynesfield
  12. Chocolate Candy
  13. Papa Clem
  14. Flying Pegasus
  15. Imperial Council
  16. Giant Oak
  17. Rachel Alexandra
  18. Theregoesjojo
  19. General Quarters
  20. I Want Revenge

Jared Kennedy’s Derby Top 10

  1. Imperial Council
  2. Old Fashioned
  3. Hello Broadway
  4. Theregoesjojo
  5. General Quarters
  6. The Pamplemousse
  7. Pioneerof the Nile
  8. Terrain
  9. Friesan Fire
  10. Flying Pegasus

I’ll go into more depth in a later post — for now here are some of my initial thoughts (some serious, some whimsical):

  1. I like that Old Fashioned is the only Derby contender to have already run 9 furlongs as a 2-year-old (the 2008 Remsen);
  2. Desert Party, based in Dubai, is probably a throwaway — no horse from overseas has ever come close to winning the Roses;
  3. on aesthetic principle, I refuse to consider any horse whose owners saddled him (sorry) with a stoopid name — I’m looking at you Pioneerof the Nile, Theregoesjojo, I Want Revenge, and Chocolate Candy;
  4. other names sound like they’re trying too hard, and are potentially the “kiss of death”: Stardom Bound, Flying Pegasus, and Imperial Council;
  5. the best names (i.e. in my opinion, those names that just sound like they belong on the honour roll of Derby champions): Old Fashioned, Dunkirk, Friesan Fire, and General Quarters.

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What do you think?

  1. Some years back an English import ran 2nd, Bold Arrangement to Ferdinand so they have come THAT close once.

    It takes until they ALL have gone 9 furlongs in grade one company before one can rationally sort this out.

    — Dr. Timothy Yatca,k · Mar 7, 01:44 AM · #

  2. Horse names require that there are a maximum of 18 letters and/or spaces so Pioneerof the Nile is at that maximum

    — Dr. Timothy Yatca,k · Mar 23, 05:34 PM · #

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