When a gray is about to arrive first in a Derby

[Jorge]

When a gray Thoroughbred is about to arrive first in a "Derby"?

Here are a few proven answers:

01. When there are many "gray" Thoroughbreds in that Derby race program and the gray is not the favorite to win. Example of this: the 1968 Kentucky Derby where a good number of grays participated.

02. The next year following the year when practically everybody was expecting a gray Thoroughbred to win the Derby and he failed. Two examples of this: the 1954 Kentucky Derby winner Determine won when the previous year (1953) everybody was expecting Native Dancer to win but he lost to Dark Star. Another example was the 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Silver Charm won when the previous year (1996) everybody was expecting Unbridled’s Song to win but he lost.

03. When a gray makes an excellent middle distance workout before the race but he is not considered for anything. A very good example Giacomo



to be continued... but feel free to post your comments.

[louis finochio]

Giacomo work 7 fur. before the Derby, his time was super fast. I remember it was bullet work. That work set the table for his victory.

[Jorge]

Giacomo work 7 fur. before the Derby, his time was super fast. I remember it was bullet work. That work set the table for his victory.

Louis Finochio, Thanks for underscoring that angle.

I remember when I first read about that workout saying to myself, “yikes, this horse has a legitimate chance to win the Derby with a late rush”. I didn’t precisely predicted he would win the Derby but I alerted here at Del Mar about that outstanding workout and his honest chances. After he won, several contributors made me smile a lot with their comments.

That workout didn’t passed unnoticed. Take a look and read the following pages from the internet:

http://books.google.com.pr/books?id=nKs ... &q&f=false

There is another angle I want to mention. Whenever a gray Thoroughbred wins a Derby, it is not that unusual that on the next year a rare phenotyped horse, or horse with unusual physical or whatever circumstances wins the race. Something similar to the odd twist that occurs in baseball where whenever there is an error the hit follows. In synthesis, whenever a gray wins a Derby expect another atypical chapter on the next year.

[Denise]

I can't recall the pre-Derby hype on him...can you guys? Did he fly under the radar at all going in?

[ElPrado]

Nobody even looked at him.
I play in a fantasy stable... one of those things where you follow a "stable" of horses through their careers. You look for stories on them, race results, etc. Giacomo was in my stable. Someone else had had him in theirs and tossed him. I liked him. There was no pre Derby hype on him at all.
So far this year my stable has Plum Pretty, Zazu, Animal Kingdom and Shackleford.

[Jorge]

Nobody even looked at him.
I play in a fantasy stable... one of those things where you follow a "stable" of horses through their careers. You look for stories on them, race results, etc. Giacomo was in my stable. Someone else had had him in theirs and tossed him. I liked him. There was no pre Derby hype on him at all.
So far this year my stable has Plum Pretty, Zazu, Animal Kingdom and Shackleford.

Apropos considering Giacomo an under-the-radar legitimate Derby contender take a close look at this thread.

http://www.pedigreequery.com/forum/view ... a97b77082d

Here is the race:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTkjiEZEPdE

[Jorge]

A gray horse just won the French Derby!!!

Note that 4 grays ran in the French Derby and only the third place finisher was considered a heavy favorite, which means that whenever a good number of grays are included in a program, there is a very good chance of a gray winning the event regardless of the racing merits in favor of the rest of the grays. The winner is undefeated but anyway was considered a very green horse.