Hair of the dog my friends. You'd think I'd be horse raced out after the past few days, but the best remedy for the hangover is a small dose of what hung you over. No, I'm not talking about bourbon, but an interesting little dirt race worth more the Florida Derby, in a big league horse racing backwater(Pepper's Pride, my apologies), New Mexico. The race has attracted an interesting crop of lesser known 3YOs, and a few with graded stakes earnings that would make Dunkirk jealous.
Race 12 Sunland Park: The Sunland Derby 800K; 1 1/8 miles on Dirt for 3YOs.
I've been watching Kelly Leak for the past few weeks. Coming off a turf race, and before that a 6f sprint, the Grade II winner is versatile and should be fast enough. By no stretch a gimmie, as the second best colt in this race, Mayor Marv will most likely go to the lead, and it will be up to Kelly Leak to be in a position to take the race back in the last furlong.
Mine That Bird is 4 of 7 lifetime and has over $325,000 in earnings. The Grade III winner ran in the Breeder's Cup before shuffling trainers. Advice gets blinkers for the first time, something that Trainer Pletcher eeks wins out 26% of the time doing. Advice has regressed or not progressed after running with some really talented horses as a two year old. Valid Stripes owns the biggest BSF at 100 and 2 of the top three BSF in the race.
I think money will split even between Mayor Marv and Kelley's Leak. I most likely will tie both of them to some value in a trifecta or a series of straight trifectas.
Hair of the dog indeed.