Florida Derby

Florida Derby is on Saturday at Gulfstream Park in race #10 at 5:42pm. After looking at the morning lines for a while and reviewing my notes the picks I am about to make came to me very quickly. This should play well after last week’s debacle and Mucho Macho Man tearing off his own shoe leaving the gate but still finishing 3^rd in a very gutty effort. Do not question Mucho Macho Man’s toughness, drive, will to win and most of all his moxie because the kid’s got moxie!

Enough with last week, let’s move forward with the Florida Derby.

Saturdays Florida Derby is a lights out field that hosts three of my top six horses in 2) Dialed In , 3) Soldat , and 6) To Honor And Serve , not to mention 12) Stay Thirsty. The Florida Derby is stacked for talent with half the field being on most everyone’s radar (and should be on yours) to make it into the Kentucky Derby. Dialed In , Soldat , To Honor And Serve and Stay Thirsty can all win the Florida Derby or at least that is what everyone thought until the late addition of Flashpoint . Rick Dutrow decided to throw a speed burner into the Florida Derby mix and Flashpoint can light up the pace!

Here are the Florida Derby Post Positions and Morning Lines .

I am going to skip the long winded version this week and get right down to the picks for the Florida Derby.

Here are my Florida Derby selections:

1)      Win – Soldat – Soldat has two starts both at Gulfstream Park in an allowance and the Fountain of Youth where he beat fellow Florida Derby entrants To Honor And Serve , Bowman’s Causeway  and Shackleford.

2)      Place – Dialed In – I think Dialed In is going to be real threat in the Kentucky Derby and I hate to say it we might be watching some sandbagging going on. Don’t think for a second that Nick Zito didn’t know exactly what he was doing sending Dialed In to run against a bunch of 4 year olds, it’s like sending a college football player out to play an exhibition game with a NFL team; Dialed In gained some experience and he will be ready. My biggest concern is are we going to see his best race or good enough to get him into the Kentucky Derby?

3)      Show – To Honor And Serve – To Honor and Serve has already run two One and One Eighth Mile races and beat a healthy Mucho Macho Man twice in a row! Finished third to Soldat and Gourmet Dinner in the Fountain of Youth so you can’t blame him there!

4)      Wild Card – Stay Thirsty – What you thought I would pick Flashpoint and follow everyone else? Not my style! Stay Thirsty was part of the group that got their butts kicked in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile by Uncle Mo and has experience with the distance at One and One Sixteenth Miles. Stay Thirsty also beat Norman Asbjornson in the Gotham who has a wire to wire style that would have prepared him well for the Florida Derby.

Unfortunately I think Flashpoint will end up facing Machen later this summer in the shorter distance races and the Florida Derby just doesn’t set up well for him.

Cheers,

Jack