VIRGINIA DERBY LAUNCHES CAREERS
The Virginia Derby, inside the rails, could be is the turf
equivalent of the Kentucky Derby on turf.
It's run under nearly identical conditions as the Run for the Roses and
attracts the best three year old turf horses in the country. It's stage alongside the Secretariat Stakes
provide a short spotlight in a division that can have a hard time getting
visibility in the national racing calendar.
Many times attracts Triple Crown refugees seeking greener pastures as it
has today with Optimizer. Saturday it also has 4-5 ML choice, Silver Max.
There's more to the lure of the Virignia Derby than
attracting the best turf horses at three.
It launches the careers not only of its victors like Gio Ponti and
English Channel but also its players like Court Vision or Artie Schiller. With Silver Max however, this year's Virginia
Derby can be looked at in a different perspective. With a different jockey aboard in every one
of his six wins on the turf this year, his frontrunning dominance and rising
ability, the method of his accomplishment is as amazing as the streak
itself. The role of this year's Virginia
Derby however, will be to validate a career that already has been lauched
testing it for distance. With another
bottomless effort Silver Max might be considered as the Seattle Slew of the
turf.
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I didn't want to
miss another one"
- Winning trainer Bill Mott on Peter Vegso's Go Between's 2006
Virginia Derby win after winning in absentia with Silver Tree and Orchard Park,
also owned by Vegso.
HORSES AROUND
The weather started cooling off this week
when Steven
Spike's SWEETVIRGINIABREEZE won Thursday evening for trainer Chris
Crocker. Wasn't it a bit strange that it
started cooling down at Colonial Downs shorter after that win? Not the same irony for BIG DIVIDEND Thursday
evening who only paid $2.20 in the opener going off at 1-9.
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