"early" derby pick
 

runs wednesday.......cobalt blue

2nd (1:30)

6 Furlongs | Open | 3 Year Olds Allowance | Purse: $50,000

Post # Horse Jockey Weight Claim Price Equip. Med.
1 Cobalt Blue Gomez G K 118 L
2 Can This Be True Baze T C 120 L
3 Larry by the Lake Flores D R 118 L
4 Street Lights Espinoza V 118 L
5 Pawnee Enriquez I D 118 L

what track?

Zig..

Gomez; Espinoza; Baze; Flores; Enriquez = Santa Anita..

Cobalt Blue is a Doug O'Neill colt by Golden Missle that was Adena bred and now is in the possession of Merv Griffin.. He was an 'early' juvenile, debuting as a winner over a non-descript Maiden group at HOL before trying the Gr. II Best Pal at DMR in his second start (Principle Secret; Great Hunter; Stormello). Got hurt, and was shelved. Has been working since December though for the return. I'll talk to O'Neill today and see how he has been doing...

oh lord, i can tell i've been under the weather for days--didn't even look at the jocks. thanks steve. still trying to get back into the swing of things.

early derby pick ? i think he will have a hard time winning this race, just my opinion.

lol well then if thats the case he will most likely no longer be my pick. was ultra impressed watching his debut win last year

I think playa was big on an allowance type horse early last year as well. Some folks like to make the easy picks, some folks take the longshots!

Without respect to the horse's merit, it would take a tremendous effort for a 3yo to win the Kentucky Derby off of this kind of preparation. Two races at 2 in June? and July? Then a 6f n1x race in mid February, leaving very little time to fit in a 2-turn n2x, and a couple of stakes races to determine his quality, given the way they race Derby candidates these days.

I'm still on Liquidity, although the horse that finished 2nd to Buffalo Man in Ocala today (Green Vegas) also looked very nice and impressed me.

who says you cant go from a other than right into a stake? judging by the workout pattern pretty fair to say this horse is feeling very good right now, probaly pretty fit also. valid points you make ann, it takes a tremendous effort period to win the derby or any graded stake regardless the preparation

Just asked O'Neill about Cobalt Blue at 6:40pm on the show. Says he is doing fantastic; shiney like a penny and though they are playing catch up, still have a tiny hope about the possibility of a classic appearence.

A successful return Wednesday will find the colt trying the WinStar Derby, and they'll go from there...

Says he very talented and will be a very nice horse no matter what happens.\

You can hear O'Neill talk about all three of his Derby horses on the "ATRAB" archives now: http://www.attheracesandbeyond.com/stream/21207c.mp3

(Starts with Randy Morse on Jonesboro.. Ends with me verbally assaulting Robert Cole (Shake You Down's "owner").. O'Neill in between!

I've given up on early derby picks. The breed has become too fragile and I dont want to get my hopes up on any particular horse when there is a better than 50% chance that he wont make it in the Derby for some reason or another. Its not like it was as recently as the 90's when it was fun to look at Derby prospects because you knew there was a good chance they'd make the starting gate. Now a days its just not worth looking at the Derby until the day of the race. Its too bad, really is. Drugs are ruining the sport just like baseball.

thanks very much steve!!!!!

not a violent person, but i think it's a shame that assault was limited to verbal...

Cobalt Blue was the early one that caught my attention. The step up and or injury was a disapointment to me. Not looking at the times, but his first race was visualy very impressive to me. I hope the set back is not severe. Returning for the derby is not the important thing. I hope he has a productive year and becomes a stakes horse eventualy, with out the urging of the derby.

I got stuck working late tonight so I missed the show... but I'm glad you're on this. A horse that has won you $2,000,000 should NOT be running for $7,500 at chucktown. :mad:

The John Sadler charge in here could be very tough at what figures to be the longest price of any in this short but talented field. Larry by a Lake could be the one to catch in here as Flores figures to try and steal this. Good race for a weekday.

Cobalt Blue
 

Nice return today but probably not good enough to move into the top tier yet. watch for a move-up and stretch out. Hope they dont test against the top bunch but Im sure there is a minor Stakes race in SoCal for him in a month or so.