Steppenwolfer out of the VA Derby
 

Story in Bloodhorse--here is the link:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=34406

Unfortunate. I was looking forward to him on the weeds. Hope it's not to bad a problem.

This could be the worst field of horses ever entered for a million dollar race. I bet Mott had wished he held After Market for this.

I'm not a fan of After Market but hard to rule out anybody. Why isn't Brilliant in here?

Brilliant is pointing for the Secretariat at ARL.....nice colt, but I think he best suited at around a mile...

Huge mistake by the Brilliant connections. Both this race and the Secretariat are 10F races, but this one has more money and no Showing Up. I am glad he is going to the Secretariat though because Showing Up should handle him pretty easily at that distance. I would love to see KD and Brilliant go at it at 1M, but they likely have zero shot against the europeans in the BC Mile.

I agree that the connections of Brilliant made a mistake skipping this race. I also agree he MAY be more suited to less distance but I have more reservations about just how good he is and this spot does not look especially tough.

I strongly urge anyone who hasn't taken a close look at Proudinsky's last race to go watch the replay. When you consider that the winner wired the field, and the third horse stalked, it makes his performance even more impressive. It is often questionable if a Euro shipper will run as well in his second US start but if you believe he can duplicate that performance he will be VERY tough in here.

Damn. Steppenwolfer was going to take a lot of money (ML favorite) and he isnt the same animal on the grass - at least not as he has shown.

This sucks. This bet against was the only thing making this race the least bit interesting. Pass.

Yeah, I agree with most of what you stated....One thing about Neil Howard and his owners...they do whats best by the horse in terms of timing, etc. - so I'm sure they have there reasons....they NEVER make decisions based on money...not Mill House, not the Farishs, or anyone....Howard has free reign to do what he pleases and he deserves that because he is as good of a horseman as there is in the country, handsdown...he doesn't cheat and he ALWAYS does best by the horse...Showing Up is more talented though, you're right about that...

I like Proudinsky too. When I saw the chart of his last I wrote down his name to look out for considering the nice close behind the wiretowire winner/slow fractions. When I saw he was entered here I thought, "****, I dont know if he's ready for these" but he stacks up well. Kip Deville should ensure an honest pace...