Hats and Horse hockey

Who will win the 2011 Kentucky Derby?

  • Archarcharch

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Brilliant Speed

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Twice The Appeal

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Stay Thirsty

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Decisive Moment

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Comma To The Top

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Derby Kitten

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Master Of Hounds

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Santiva

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Mucho Macho Man

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Shackleford

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Animal Kingdom

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Soldat

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Uncle Mo

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    8
  • Poll closed .

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
44,975
Reaction score
14,604
Location
inbetween
When you have a 20 horse field and questionable track conditions (it may rain) at the Derby... then yes, I might agree.

But in good conditions and a 15 horse field...
I'm much better at making money.
So, no. It's not all luck.
 

Soccer Mom

Crypto-fascist
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 5, 2006
Messages
18,604
Reaction score
8,039
Location
Under your couch
Luck can play a part in any sporting event, but it certainly isn't the sole determiner.

There are some awesome names this year. Stay Thirsty? Pants on Fire? Of course as writers, we should probably cheer for Comma to the Top, but I like Midnight Interlude. My long shot is Shackleford.
 

HobbitTon

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 21, 2011
Messages
163
Reaction score
7
Well, then I am going for the complete underdog Watch Me Go.
 

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
44,975
Reaction score
14,604
Location
inbetween
I hate to say it, but I'll post my pick tomorrow. I need to see track conditions, get a feel for what jockey is doing well at the track, see if I can avoid a D-Wayne entry... oh no, Desormeaux doesn't have a ride? And then there's the speed rating, and who's peeking and... oh my, I may have said too much already!

=)
 

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
44,975
Reaction score
14,604
Location
inbetween
I have to go with Pants on Fire. I like either an underdog or an unusual name so there you have it.

AND there's Rosie Napravnik, a woman jockey riding Pants On Fire. I have a feeling that this entry might just make my trifecta! (talk about odd reasons to pick a horse! :D)
 

firedrake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
9,251
Reaction score
7,297
Isn't horse racing all about luck?

Nah.

With US racing, the quality of the jockeys is so appalling that I'd be picking a horse with a good jockey, like Burrell.
 

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
44,975
Reaction score
14,604
Location
inbetween
With US racing, the quality of the jockeys is so appalling that I'd be picking a horse with a good jockey, like Burrell.

Who needs the world's best jockeys when we have the best push-button horses? I mean seriously, name one internationally known horse, besides Camilla Parker Bowles...

:D
 

firedrake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
9,251
Reaction score
7,297
Who needs the world's best jockeys when we have the best push-button horses? I mean seriously, name one internationally known horse, besides Camilla Parker Bowles...

:D

Zenyatta was fantastic and definitely known outside the U.S. She would've retired with a perfect record if her jockey hadn't screwed up.

Don't compare Camilla to a horse, it's an insult to horses. :D
 

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
44,975
Reaction score
14,604
Location
inbetween
I'm down to four: Nehro, Pants On Fire, Derby Kitten and Midnight Interlude. Pants in the sentimental so if I we're betting... I think I'd go with Nehro to win or Midnight...ahh! Might have to buy two tickets! =)
 

Fenika

Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jun 3, 2007
Messages
24,311
Reaction score
5,109
Location
-
If I didn't live in the middle of nowhere I'd find a neighbor to watch the race with. Alas. I'll have to catch it on youtube later.
 

Ambrosia

Grand Duchess
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 4, 2009
Messages
26,893
Reaction score
7,269
Location
In the Castle, of course.
I like Twinspired because he is a grey, but greys hardly ever win and since he was beaten by other horses in the field in another race, I don't think he will win.

I thought it would come down between Dialed In and Toby's Corner, but Toby's Corner has an injury keeping him from running today, so I will have to pick another challenger to Dialed In. Or just stay with him.
 

BeatrixKiddo

Is it summer yet???
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Oct 11, 2010
Messages
4,123
Reaction score
1,683
Location
Gotham City, baby
I used to watch religiously when I was younger. (being a horse nut and all) But I haven't watched in years. Completely forgot it was on. I think part of the reason I stopped watching was I didn't like finding out about some of the drugs they put the horses on to stop them from bleeding since some race so young. (not sure if they do that anymore, but stuff like that bothers me with horses)

Remember the filly Winning Colors? Those were the years I watched.
(1988)

http://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/year/1988
 

firedrake

practical experience, FTW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jan 19, 2009
Messages
9,251
Reaction score
7,297
I used to watch religiously when I was younger. (being a horse nut and all) But I haven't watched in years. Completely forgot it was on. I think part of the reason I stopped watching was I didn't like finding out about some of the drugs they put the horses on to stop them from bleeding since some race so young. (not sure if they do that anymore, but stuff like that bothers me with horses)

Remember the filly Winning Colors? Those were the years I


I believe horses are allowed to race when taking Lasix (for the bleeding) and Bute (for inflammation) in the U.S. Horses aren't allowed to run here if they're on those. A winning horse is taken for a urine sample after a race to test for those drugs.

I could go on and on and on about what's wrong with racing in the U.S. For starters, each state controls its own racing. There's no unified governing body with any clout.

The way the majority of jockeys ride there would get them a ban if they rode like that here. They don't think, there's no finesse. They let the horses run from out of the gates without saving anything for the final furlong. When the horses start to tire, they pick up the whip and whack them across the finish line.

etc. etc. etc.
 

KellyAssauer

The Anti-Magdalene
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 3, 2006
Messages
44,975
Reaction score
14,604
Location
inbetween
They let the horses run from out of the gates without saving anything for the final furlong. When the horses start to tire, they pick up the whip and whack them across the finish line.
etc. etc. etc.

We're watching different races, or Jockeys. Desormeaux never touched Real Quiet (the fish!) with the whip, and held the horse near the front and steady until the final stretch. Last year's Belmont was crazy slow, until turn three, etc. etc. etc.
 

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
20,006
Reaction score
5,352
Location
Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fu
On my dream ticket, I have Pants on Fire to win, Twinspired to place and Animal Kingdom to show.

Have to go with Pants on Fire. Have to--girl jockey...funny name...

But, I have a second ticket too. The REAL one. Mucho Macho Man to win, Pants on Fire to place, Dialed In to show.

Five bucks on the dream ticket. Ten bucks on the REAL ticket. Either one will send me on an around the world trip with an Exacta. COME ON HORSIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

mscelina

Teh doommobile, drivin' rite by you
Requiescat In Pace
Registered
Joined
Jan 18, 2007
Messages
20,006
Reaction score
5,352
Location
Going shopping with Soccer Mom and Bubastes for fu
And as a public service, Churchill Downs officials should forbid the crowd from attempting to sing My Old Kentucky Home. There's only about four people there who are sober enough to sing the right lyrics at the right time and in the right key.