Today check out ESPNEWS, and SportsCenter for plenty od Derby news. Also ESPN will be live from Churchill Downs at noon ET till 5pm when they hand things off to NBC.
Here are some observations from an NBC press conference that might help you with your Derby picks.
BOB NEUMEIER ON HANDICAPPING THIS YEAR’S DERBY:
“I will be very honest about it; I think there are seven of the twenty that wouldn’t surprise me if they won. It’s just an educated guess, it’s no more than that. I can’t sit here and I think that anybody who is a handicapper for a newspaper or a radio or a television station that is coming out with this great opinion about how they like Curlin or they love Street Sense is almost self-delusional right now. There is a reason not to like all of these horses. Hey, I am going to take my best stab at it based on tapes and speed figures and how they have trained and all that stuff. It’s almost a spin on the Wheel of Fortune.”
HAMMOND ON HARD SPUN:
“Since its been raining here all day and there is a 50 percent chance of rain on Saturday, I am just looking at the past performances of these horses, to see if any had experience on an off-track and Hard Spun was one of the few that does have experience on an off-track. He won by five lengths at Delaware Park on a sloppy track as a two year-old last year. Hardspun has been one of the horses that I think has a good chance of winning ever since we saw him at Turfway Park.
STEVENS ON HARD SPUN:
“[Trainer] Larry Jones, a lot of people out there don’t know who he is, people here do know who he is. He is a very good horseman, knows his horses well. Mario Pino, his jockey is very capable, another guy who is underestimated and don’t be surprised if you happen to see him in the winner’s circle on Saturday.”
HAMMOND ON LONG LAYOFFS LEADING UP TO THE DERBY:
“Last year when Michael Matz brought Barbaro in to win the Derby off of a five week layoff, it was the first time since Needles in 1956 that anyone had done that. This year it seems like all of the trainers are sort of throwing tradition away and bringing unconventional approaches to the Derby with long layoffs and other things that haven’t happened in a long time. I think that Michael Matz and Barbaro sort of opened the door for everyone to do it in a different way and we will see if it succeeds again this year.”
NEUMEIER ON THE FAVORITES
“Todd Pletcher said there’s a reason to like every horse and a reason not to like them, and a reason not to like Curlin is because he never ran as a two year-old and is bucking 125 years of history and Street Sense only has two races headed into the Derby where others have three or four. Yeah, they are very talented and yeah, they are in the mix but there is always one little thing, one little caveat going against every horse going into this race and that is what I think makes it so interesting.”
HAMMOND ON MIKE BATTAGLIA AND THE QUEEN’S VISIT:
“I think we keep Mike away from her at all costs, unless we want to risk war with Great Britain.”
BATTAGLIA ON BARCLAY TAGG’S WORK WITH NOBIZ LIKE SHOWBIZ:
“I think he’s got an excellent chance. Barclay Tagg is an old time, old school trainer and he has brought up Showbiz to the Derby, the way that you should bring a horse up to the Derby. He was getting him better with every race. He put blinkers on him for the Wood Memorial and that made him more focused and I think that is what you need in the Derby, is a focused horse. Barclay Tagg knows how to get a horse ready and he has got a real solid contender in Nobiz like Showbiz.”
NBC SPORTS DERBY PICKS:
BATTAGLIA: “I’m between Circular Quay and Street Sense. It’s really tough for me to separate the two. I think Street Sense is going so good right now, but I think Pletcher is overdue for his Derby, and I think Circular Quay is his best hope.”
NEUMEIER: “I put my seven possibilities up on a board and I tossed a dart last night and the dart decided to land on Hard Spun. I’m being somewhat facetious, but he’s my best pick at this point. I think he’s flying under the radar here. He’s got the speed and the shiftiness to be close to the pack early. I’m leaning towards Hard Spun right now, but I’m with Mike on Circular Quay, I’m with Mike on Street Sense.”
