They weren't even in the same galaxy. I understand it's a short stretch but with that pace there should've been at least one horse out of the top two to show some heart.

I don't have HRTV and so had to rely on texts for updates throughout the race.

If someone could please let me know when he crosses the finish I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance.

First of all, and this is taking nothing away from Rachel Alexandra, who ran a phenomenal race, but comparing final times from two different days is not a good idea. Ever.

Second of all, what that race was on paper it became in reality. Two horses completely towered over the field, they did everything necessary for them to be caught in the lane and no one could catch even the staggering Silver City.

Thus, Old Fashioned did what he was supposed to do.

After the 2004 Southwest, where Smarty Jones stalked a :45 and 4/5 half mile and came home in :26 and 1/5, everyone was not enthused.

NT

i agree

no closer to be found w/ those fractions, the entire field was DD in odds (excluding the Mena horse). How many of these horses are derby caliber?

-bt-

I think they said he'll be in the starting gate for the last race if he hurries;)

I agree with you 100%. The one thing that kinda sucks is that alot of his horses are with him 100%, he hasn't had the opportunity to show us his move ups....

I think it would have been pretty unrealistic to ask for a performance any better than that.

I realize he is the clear cut early Derby Future book favorite ... but more so because of the faults of other prospects than anything else.

Silver City is a very nice sprinter - he got the lead without a great deal of pressure over a track that was kind to inside speed today - and he was no match.

If you look at Old Fashioned's Remsen win .. he was crawling on an uncontested early lead through absurdly slow early fractions. He ran the fastest final 3/8ths in the Remsen since Alydar.. so he made the best of the soft trip and pace and can't be knocked too much.

It was certainly a better performance than Hard Spun's 3yo debut... and this is a Larry Jones horse ... he's a mystic and this horse will almost certainly go forward and get better.

Great post but what did you do with Drugs because he's never posted something that was this good.;)

Well I'm definitely going to dvr the derby broadcast so I can skip through the asskissing sessions with Jones.

this years human interest story no doubt...and yeah, i can understand dvr'ing. you get right to them loading in the gate. but hopefully this year i won't have to watch a dutrow horse win it.

Freaky!

i think i'm more impressed with friesan fire at this point. but a horse who doesn't encounters traffic such as old fashioned in his last two can be hard to really judge. admittedly, watching a horse come from the back of the pack is more entertaining- but it doesn't mean he's better...

Yes that's nice and whatnot..

at the time Smarty's Southwest was panned and it was miles better than this race in overall quality. You had 4 out of 9 horses in that race that showed ability.

The race today was a snoozefest match race between unbridled song's seeds.

I'll hold off on annointing this horse the next Smarty Jones.

I'm not sure what people were expecting today, perhaps he was hyped a bit too much. But this was an solid effort to kick-start his 3-year-old season. He chased a face pace, finished well and is primed to move forward.

I don't think we were looking for an effort that would win a 10 furlong race in May on a February afternoon.

i agree it was a solid effort. he did what he was expected/supposed to do.

Not trying to annoint him a new Smarty Jones. Pointing out that there oddities about the splits at Oaklawn. It ALWAYS looks like OP 3yo's come home slow and invariably they're on a par with everyone else later. I was a naysayer on Oaklawn performances for a long time and eventually acknowledged that the Smarty Jones and Lawyer Ron and Afleet Alex and Flower Alley and even Borrego were coming home as fast.. or faster.. than any other sophomore.

Don't get caught up in the splits at Oaklawn is my only suggestion. (It's the Ozarks Pants... Eventually you'll be squeeling like a pig.)

Isn't Silver City the perfect example a horse that if they didn't rush, and kept him at 8f and shorter, you would have a potential freak. He has the feeling of a horse that will get ruined by the Triple Crown trail.

Ah, Steve.

You have this one backwards.

Oaklawn Park - especially at 9fs - it is the home of the unexplainably fast come home time.

Didn't the white Randy Moss figure out that the stretch at Oaklawn is uphill?

i heard that as well...

Downhill.

I think it's uphill....but I'll research and report back.

Old Fashioned = Scotty Thurman

Smarty Jones = Corliss Williamson

How did he figure either?

Watching which way the water rolled during a
thunderstorm? Did he get a surveyor, or use
his GPS?

I've seen horses come home in 11 and change in the final 1/8th there going 9fs ... and I'm talking about horses lesser than Afleet Alex and Curlin.

Hell, Rockamundo, the biggest bum to ever win a major Derby prep, he came home in like 12.50 for his final furlong in the Ark Derby after pressing a 45 and change pace.

http://www.drf.com/newsletter/davidowitz042703.pdf

Start your reading from the far right.

Damn.

The field that Smarty Jones beat in the Southwest was:

Two Down Automatic
Pro Prado
Wildcat Shoes
Pyramid Performer
Archie B
Proper Prado
Number Juan
Got the Goods

Granted some might have been farther along at the time of the race, but they weren't any good going forward. However, I too will hold off on anointing him the next Smarty Jones.

NT

i think it's possible some were thinking of the ark derby field, not the southwest. that was certainly a better field than what you just listed!

DrugS is right, the stretch at OP is on a slight decline.

Old Fashioned and Flat Out ran the two best races. Old Fashioned was probably best.

It was hard to tell much of anything new from Old Fashioned - he didn't have to do much today - just wear down 1 decent horse, and the time wasn't jaw dropping, but he got the job done up on a good pace and was never in doubt. "Solid"

also have to love Larry Jones , he has a REALLY cool hat, and all the stuff he went through with Eight Belles.;);)

Smarty Jones = Sidney Moncrief

yes, some of the trash Randy Moss witnessed flowing down the hill at Oaklawn most assuredly contained some of Drugs clever losing tickets.

Such as back wheeling Kissin Kris in an exacta but missing the 2K gimmick by tossing out 100/1 shot Rockamundo because not even the great combo of OJ Glass Jr./Borel team could get him home in the top 7.

Old Fashioned ran a very strong race this afternoon. He showed his class by running Silver City's game. He pressed stroong fractions and blew past him and won by over 3 lengths.

It was the horses first race in three months and if there was a race he could be vulnerable this was it. I think we have a legit Derby favorite. If he matures during the next few months he's a horse that perhaps we can get excited about in the TC races.

The Fountain of Youth will do a lot more for determining the Derby favorite than today's race did. The way that field is shaping up, people would be insane to take Old Fashioned over anything more than a nose winner of the FOY. As for him being a Triple Crown possibility, even if he's good enough, he's by Unbridled's Song. To me, every start with a US three-year-old is like Russian Roulette. He's got a LONG way to go.

:tro:

I'd be interested to know what horse out there everyone thinks is going to take him down in the Arkansas Derby in a fairly run race, because at this point I haven't seen anything all that impressive. I like Imperial Council very much, but the Derby is coming up much too soon. Fresian Fire is solid and Jones is holding a strong hand going into the Derby, but I don't think he is as good as Old Fashioned. There is certainly no reason to think Pioneerof the Nile won't take to the dirt, so he could challenge him, but it's doubtful he'll leave CA prior to the Derby.

The FOY is interesting if all of the probables make it into the field, but I think like Silver City, you'll have horses come out of that race that will be pointed to the sprint stakes in later in the season.

you never know til they try it.

My post wasn't counting him out. The horse is bred for the big one.