Thursday, April 10, 2008

Contender Profile: Blackberry Road

Derby Status: Uncertain
Graded Earnings: $126,500
Future Odds: 46/1
Owner: Dogwood Stable
Trainer: David M. Carroll

Runs in the Arkansas Derby this Saturday. Tough to get all that excited about a colt still eligible for N1X tilts, but the usually conservative Carroll has had no problem throwing this Gone West son in with the wolves again and again, which should say something positive. Rallied strongly to be narrow second in G2 Kentucky Jockey Club, then didn't get the pace scenarios in New Orleans that would allow him to showcase his best. Still ran a solid second in the G3 LeComte, a traffic-laden fifth in the G3 Risen Star and a decent, if unspectacular fourth in the G2 Louisiana Derby. Certainly will get better pace to run at in the Derby, which makes him at least worth a second look, as does his family. His mom was a G3 winner and G1 placed around two turns, and he's a half to six-figure earners Vindication, True Reason, and Scipion, although he should probably be docked points for the latter sibling. He's clearly inferior to Pyro, and his KJC (85 BSF) and LeComte (90 BSF) figures might be a tad inflated, but gonna refrain from totally chucking him until he inevitably runs up the track Saturday.

No comments: