Derby Fever

So what's in a racing surface? Apparently a lot. Pyro faltered badly in the Blue Grass Stakes run at Keeneland yesterday finishing tenth. His connections are blaming the surface, saying that Pyro did not take to the synthetic track, never really getting into gear.

Todd Pletcher's horses finished 1 & 2, Monba the winner ridden by Edgar Prado. So far, all are still headed to the Derby, including the favorite for now, Big Brown. What is interesting is that Colonel John, who won the Santa Anita Derby last week on a synthetic surface, is also heading for Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May.

So how much does a synthetic track matter? And is there the same advantage to a horse moving from the synthetic surface to the dirt as there is to one coming off the turf? Or does it really matter? Is a great horse, a great horse no matter what the surface?

I don't have the answers but I love pondering the questions because that is what makes horse racing such an unpredictable sport. No matter what "system" you swear by or what formula you use to compare horses, they all lose validity when you factor in the elements of horse and rider. Anything can happen when twenty horses charge out of those starting gates in three weeks.

So I'm officially smitten with Derby Fever and counting the days. How about you?