[pmayjr]

The Gotham is interesting in the sense that a lot of the themes from the past week or 2 of preps could really hold true in this race-

1) Could this race be just like the Fountain of Youth (and the Withers)- Who is gonna run up front with Samraat and Uncle Sigh? They might go right around the track just like Wildcat Red and General Arod did in the FoY. I know the Withers was extremely week, but the pace setup for the race has me thinking they could do the same thing again. Deceived maybe tries to go with them up front? Maybe In Trouble?

2) Financial Mogul has a lot of the same arguments to win this race as Intense Holiday had to win the Risen Star. He's raced against better, and by getting away from Cairo Prince and Gulfstream in general, he's eligible to move up based on that. Did Violette not enter him in the FoY due to the him not taking to the Gulfstream surface? Thinking he could get softer company in NY? Combo of both? He has the arguments to be Intense Holiday part 2.

3) To an extent at Gulfstream, but mainly in the Risen Star and the Southwest, you saw a lot of horses moving up from ALW, ALW/OC and minor stakes company at "lesser" tracks moving into these races as a "next logical step" (in most cases). And most of those horses got put in their place when going up against the big dogs. ExtraSexyHippzster has really caught my eye, and I think this is a great race to test his class. But I'm a little gun shy because of what I've seen in the Risen Star and Southwest where these horses haven't fared well (the ones moving up). But I love his running style, and he's beaten the lesser company easily. Mixed signals...

I think when it comes down to it, I like Samraat with Uncle Sigh, ExtrasexyHipzter and Harpoon underneath. But questioning if this race will play much of a factor on the overall derby trail?