(From Left to Right: Tale of Ekati, Pyro, and Big Brown below)
War Pass both regained and lost my confidence today in the Wood Memorial. He ran a great race, which makes me confident that he is still a good horse, but he tired badly, which makes me wonder about the 
distance. Whether it was the distace, or the rediculously fast fractions that tired him out, it makes me think twice about his colt's chances in the Derby. The race will be longer, and the pace will undoubtedly be very fast--a problem for a horse like War Pass, and a huge advantage for a horse like Pyro, or even Colonel John. Big Brown has already proven that he can set fast fractions and keep going, and War Pass did that in his own right today. The competition in the Wood was certainly deeper than that in the Florida Derby. But where Big Brown gets the edge over War Pass is in his ability to rate behind horses. War Pass made clear that he won't do that. Big Brown has the ability to lay close, which is a very good quality for a Derby horse to have. Pyro has the patience and ability to sit back behind other horses, wait for an opening, and then charge through to victory, something he may have to do on Derby Day because of the traffic. In a twenty horse field, anything can happen. Traffic is always a problem for someone in the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Parentheses show the previous top ten.
distance. Whether it was the distace, or the rediculously fast fractions that tired him out, it makes me think twice about his colt's chances in the Derby. The race will be longer, and the pace will undoubtedly be very fast--a problem for a horse like War Pass, and a huge advantage for a horse like Pyro, or even Colonel John. Big Brown has already proven that he can set fast fractions and keep going, and War Pass did that in his own right today. The competition in the Wood was certainly deeper than that in the Florida Derby. But where Big Brown gets the edge over War Pass is in his ability to rate behind horses. War Pass made clear that he won't do that. Big Brown has the ability to lay close, which is a very good quality for a Derby horse to have. Pyro has the patience and ability to sit back behind other horses, wait for an opening, and then charge through to victory, something he may have to do on Derby Day because of the traffic. In a twenty horse field, anything can happen. Traffic is always a problem for someone in the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Parentheses show the previous top ten.1. Pyro (Pyro)--The best until proven otherwise
2. Big Brown (Big Brown)--Dazzled in Florida Derby; inexperience, surface, and foot issues could be a factor.
3. Tale of Ekati (War Pass)--Looked very good in the Wood Memorial, and had excuse for poor Louisiana Derby Performance
4. Colonel John (El Gato Malo)--Santa Anita Derby makes him the best of the west
5. War Pass (Court Vision)--bounced back well from TBD, still have distance questions
6. Visionaire (Colonel John)--not helped by the fact that Texas Wildcatter ran poorly in the Wood, but will try to prove something in the Bluegrass.
7. El Gato Malo (Denis of Cork)--Dissappointed in Santa Anita; will be listening for possible explainations.
8. Court Vision (Visionaire)--Consistently runs well, but hasn't run a big one in a while
9. Yankee Bravo (Yankee Bravo)--always a factor, but hasn't stepped up into the big leagues as well as one may have hoped.
10. Smooth Air (Cool Coal Man)--His Florida Derby was very impressive; if you take out Big Brown, this one would have been a big winner that day.
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