Is Grasshopper a walk over?
 

Sounds like Howard is being very cautious in his prep talks now. What happened to his powerful upside when taking with Travis on the phone the other day?

He doesn't know what the Travers might have done to him, wow, he can't tell if he will flatten out now?

Same thing I would say too

:)

I think he is attempting to not exude too much confidence, that's never been Howard's style. Of the probables for the Super Derby, he definitely seems like the one to beat.

NT

enjoy the day
:)

It seems to me like there are a couple of ways to look at this race.
On the one hand, Grasshopper's performance in the Travers was very good given his lack of experience. He might still be able to improve off that effort, especially since he is cutting back to 9f, which - I think - will be a better distance for him than the 10f of the Travers. In terms of speed figs, I don't think there is anybody pointing to this race who approaches the 107 BSF he ran in the Travers.
On the other hand, Grasshopper's biggest claim to fame is that he battled Street Sense so gamely down the stretch and was very close to that one at the finish line. However, Street Sense - for all of his abilities and accomplishmnets - does tend to hang a bit, which can make his competition look like they are "digging in" or "battling" a bit more than they might be in reality.
I guess what I am saying is that Grasshopper's Travers might be overrated in a way that makes him overbet in this race, but if the only colts that show up to take him on are Going Ballistic and others of that ability level, then it probably won't matter, and he'll win easily.

I have honestly not heard of any of the likely opponents for him in this race. A once proud race that was for a while the most productive prep for the BC Classic has been reduced to nothing at all. Sad.

All sorts of articles in the DRF this week.

The Super Derby has still produced more BC Classic winners than any other 3-year-old race.

They all came a long time ago though.

1984-Gate Dancer won the SD and finished a very close 3rd in the BC.
1987-Alysheba won the SD before being nosed out in the BC.
1988-Seeking the Gold won the SD before losing by 1/2 length in the BC.
1989-Sunday Silence pulled off the double.
1990-Unbridled ran second in the SD before winning the BC.
1994-Concern ran second in the SD before winning the BC.
1997-Deputy Commander won the SD before finishing second in the BC.
2000-Tiznow pulled off the double.

For some stupid reason, it was decided to move the race down to 9f in 2002, with the exception of the 2005 running which was back at 10f. The race has totally lost it's significance since then.

I don't normally advocate using a 10f race to prep for another 10f race. But if it's going to be an easy race, where u don't have to exert much effort to win it, then I don't have a problem with a 10f prep. The reason I don't like the JCGC is because it takes too much out of a horse to try to come back in the BC. But when it's going to be an easy race AND only 9f, that's a combination that leads to what we have with the race now. Give me an easy 10f or a tough 9f race as an ideal prep.

10th (5:10)

Super Derby (G2)

1 1/8 Miles | Open | 3 Year Olds Stakes | Purse: $500,000

Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Point Gold Jacinto J 124 L
2 Forty Acres Gonzalez C V 124 L
3 Beta Capo Quinonez L S 124 L
4 Cajun Conquest Perrodin E J 124 L
5 Leonnatus Anteas Jones J 124 L
6 Past the Point Bejarano R 124 L
7 Strong City Hamilton Q 124 L
8 Tortuga Straits LeBlanc K P 124 L
9 Grasshopper Albarado R J 124 L
10 Going Ballistic Berry M C 124 L

The best was 1991 Free Spirits Joy. Wondering if this was Calvins biggest win untll last years BC juvi. If you can access a replay. Watch it. FSJ was a local horse trained by Clarence Picou. Several Heavy hitters came to LAD to take the winners share of the1M purse{Ithink it was back then] Calvin took the race on the front end,on the rail wire to wire at about 20/1. MC Hammer had a huge entorage that left Shreveport very disapointed..

that's funny. i love that movie. "juuusssst a bit outside"

That is a pretty good field...

Yea, who is Grasshopper?

I honestly have never heard of a single one of these other than Grasshopper and only heard of him in the weeks leading to the Travers. It's just unbelievable how this race has fallen. It used to be routine to get one of more of the leading 3yo's to this race. Some of the top ones:

In it's first year, 1980, 3yo champion (Ark Dby, Belmont, Travers) Temperance Hill.
1981, Belmont winner Summing.
1983, Blue Grass/Travers winner Play Fellow. Ky Dby/Ark Dby winner Sunny's Halo.
1984, Preakness winner Gate Dancer and Swaps winner Precisionist.
1985, Belmont winner Creme Fraiche.
1986, Haskell/Travers winner Wise Times.
1987, Ky Dby/Preakness winner and 3yo champion Alysheba.
1988, Seeking the Gold (2nd Wood, Haskell, Travers) and Swaps winner Lively One.
1989, SA Dby, Ky Dby, Preakness winner and 3yo champion Sunday Silence.
1990, Fla Dby, Ky Dby winner and 3yo champion Unbridled.
1993, Canadian TC winner Peteski.
1994, Ark Dby winner (2nd Travers, 3rd Preakness/Haskell) Concern.
1996, Belmont winner (2nd Fla Dby, 3rd Preakness/Blue Grass) Editor's Note.
1997, Travers winner Deputy Commander.
1999, Haskell/Blue Grass winner (2nd Ky Dby/Preakness) Menifee.
2000, Belmont winner Commendable and a horse named Tiznow.

Since then though, the race has really gone downhill. I can only think of two upper level 3yo's that have gone there since then, Ten Most Wanted (Travers, 2nd Belmont) and Lawyer Ron (Ark Dby). In it's first 11 runnings, eight times there was a Classic winner there and in two of the three years u didn't, u had Wise Times (who very easily could have been 3yo champion in 1986), Seeking the Gold (two noses and 1/2 length kept him from winning the Haskell, Travers and BC Classic). It can be argued that over those first 11 years, and perhaps even through 2000, the Super Derby was a more desireable race than the Travers was. What the hell has happened?

Honestly, Glorious, I think it's the competition. The Penn Derby, the Indiana Derby - they all take away from our race, much like I'm sure we take away from theirs. There is too much racing for too few horses now-a-days.

I think Grasshopper is a great score, he could be one where we look back and say, "Oh wow, he ran in the Super Derby."

Lawyer Ron is nothing to sneeze-at either, as he's a leading candidate for HOTY. It all goes in cycles.

[quote=King Glorious]

For some stupid reason, it was decided to move the race down to 9f in 2002, with the exception of the 2005 running which was back at 10f. The race has totally lost it's significance since then.

QUOTE]

The BC and the fragile horses of today has caused a lot of classic races to be shortened in distance. Woodward, JCGC, Vosburgh,Brooklyn...to name a few.

[quote=Slewbopper]i think races have beenshortened because the emphasis has been placed on speed, rather than stamina. can't showcase fast, fast horses in a 2 mile race.
it's a shame that now versatility is the ability to run at a couple of tracks, and ship--rather than in earlier times, when a horse might sprint one week, and then run a two miler the next. they just showcased forego recently in bloodhorse, and he did both of those within days, winning both.