***Arkansas Derby***

The Arkansas Derby is one of the most prestigous races Kentucky Derby prep races on the schedule each year. This year again the Arkansas Derby will have a large field of very accomplished 3 year olds that will go to the post looking for the winner's share of the $1Million purse. This year the prohibitive favorite is Old Fashioned, the charge trained by Larry Jones and owned by Fox Hill Farm, owner Rick Porter has a great deal of confidence in his horse even after losing the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park in March. Win Willy the 56-1 upset winner of the Rebel is back to give an indication as to wheather that race was a fluke or if he is a true contender looking to go forward after that career best Grade II stakes win. Papa Clem a southern California shipper is looking to upset this field and show that the west coast horses are legitimate. Danger to Society is a Rick Dutrow horse that is coming in to try to steal some of the thunder from the other horses that have been on the grounds. 2008 Horse of the Year Curlin won this race in 2007 as a 3-year-old. This is the Post Position Draw for the Running of the Arkansas Derby 2009.

Arkansas Derby
Grade: II Purse: $1 million Distance: 9 Furlongs Age: 3-Year-Olds
Track: Oaklawn Park TV: Click to view image Saturday, April 11, 2009 @ 6:00 PM ET
1. Captain Cherokee 20/1
2. Papa Clem 6/1
3. Flat Out 10/1
4. Poltergeist 20/1
5. Ziegfield 12/1
6. Flying Private 6/1
7. Summer Bird 30/1
8. Old Fashioned 9/5
9. Win Willy 7/2
10. Danger to Society 6/1

Fasig-Tipton Sale

The November edition of the Fasig-Tipton Sale began today with some gaudy numbers being put up. There was the world record setting $14 million purchase for Better Than Honour’s the broodmare of the year and also the $5.7 million purchase of the likely to be crowned 2008 Juvenile Filly Champion Stardom Bound offered.

There is no indication who purchased Better Than Honour at this point but we have learned that IEAH has been on record as saying that they purchased Stardom Bound. This could be another situation in my opinion where Rick (the big mouth) Dutrow, ruins the horse, and any chance that she would have at winning the 2009 Kentucky Oaks and possibly making another big run on the synthetics at Santa Anita in November next year at the Breeders Cup. This horse has no physical issues and seems to be thriving since her win in the Juvi Fillies. In my opinion Rick Dutrow is a lower tier trainer, who basically is working for an operation with plenty of capital and has the ability to go out and get the very best horses offered at the different sales and give him the opportunity to allow, and I do mean allow these horses to win. Sadly you can expect that if Stardom Bound does not live up to her potential then rumors and excuses will fly from the camp and you can be assured that her schedule up to the Kentucky Oaks and possibly the Breeders Cup will be just as imaginative as Big Brown's schedule, therefore allowing for the connections to be able to throw legitimate excuses out there for the public to make decisions on.