Early Derby stuff

I mentioned how I'm in love with a horse again. Well, it's time to let the horse out of the stall. He's not as under the radar as I thought he might be, especially with Eskendereya being scratched and I don't think all my readers combined are going to move the odds that much if I am able to sway them. Besides, he's already the second favorite in the morning line so it's not like a win bet is going to be a huge payoff. The horse? Sidney's Candy.


photo courtesy kentuckyderby.com

I'm completely jazzed about Sid. He'll be running from the far outside from the 20th position, the last spot on the track. Want to see what I think is going to happen?







Those are Sid's last three races. See how they're all alike? Sidney's Candy jumps to the lead, puts pressure on everybody and then kicks into some other gear to put distance between him and everyone else. You know the difference between the races? The distances. The videos are in order from most recent to least and longest to short. John Sadler has done a fantastic job preparing Sid for the Derby, getting him to maintain his style despite the races getting longer and Joe Talamo is getting better at rating Sid until it's time to kick into that next gear in the stretch.

But with 20 horses and Sid coming from the outside, isn't there a chance he won't get on the lead? Good question. That's just what happened when Sid broke his maiden:



Always an awful thing when you set track records in your first victory. But Sid showed he can stalk. And it looks like Sadler was thinking there might be a possibility as well. Check out Sid's workout from last week in the slop. SIX furlongs in second position. Love it.

My ONLY concern is the dirt. Sidney's Candy could be a California horse and be completely useless away from the synthetic turf of California. I'm not seeing it. It has been a looooonnnng time since I was dazzled by a horse this much. I am really, really excited about Saturday and seeing Sidney's Candy take the Kentucky Derby. If you don't have a rooting interest yet, here's the horse for you.