Bluegrass Picture Doesn't Include Pyro

(Left: Monba winning Bluegrass)

Pyro was well back at the top of the home stretch in the 84th Bluegrass Stakes this afternoon, and he stayed there, finishing tenth. Meanwhile, Todd Pletcher, who's been struggling to get a solid Derby horse, took the top two spots with Monba and Cowboy Cal. The question for Pyro is this: is this performance a track issue? Or is there something underlying that we should look at? It helps his case a great deal that Z Fortune ran so well in the Arkansas Derby just an hour later. Pyro handed the Z his first career defeat in the Risen Star a while back. Pyro never even gave a solid effort today, which is indicative of a dislike of track surface. The race was his first try on synthetic surface. He's already proven that he likes the going at Churchill Downs, as he won his maiden race there as a two year old last year. He'll need to train well to make the rebound, but I'm guessing this is a throw-out race for him. The final complete order of finish was (parentheses show my predictions):

1. Monba (4)

2. Cowboy Cal (3)

3. Kentucky Bear

4. Stevil

5. Visionaire (2)

6. Miner's Claim (6)

7. Halo Najib (8)

8. Medjool

9. Cool Coal Man (5)

10. Pyro (1)

11. Big Truck (7)

12. Stone Bird