Colonel Ready to March on Kentucky

Colonel John's explosive final 1/8 of a mile in 12.66 seconds in the Santa Anita Derby elevates him to top contender status equal to Big Brown or Pyro.   Currently (Sunday morning 9 am Pacific) in the Future 3 wagering Colonel John is an enticing 10-1, but that should come down as the bettors digest Saturday's results.

War Pass and Tale of Ekati were on their hands and knees crawling home in almost 14 seconds in the Wood...think you can eliminate all the horses from that event. 

Surprise, surprise...inside speed performed well at Hawthorne...still Recapturetheglory carried his speed all the way for a 4-length win with a final 1/8 of 12.12 seconds, which stamps him as a horse that can hurt Big Brown's chances and makes the 14-1 on the all-other 3-year-olds almost acceptable.  Big Brown wandered through the Gulfstream stretch in 12.98 seconds....5/2 odds wouldn't be acceptable if it was post time for the Derby...silly to take it a month away from the Derby.

We will get a better read on the Louisiana preps next week when Pyro runs again. It is hard to truly evaluate Pyro's 5-1 current price in the future pool.  Looks fair to us, but certainly not an overlay.

We probably have West Coast myopia, but we think there is value in the Future Pool with a number of left coast runners....
Bob Black Jack - speedster can route and may improve on dirt  58-1 current odds
El Gato Malo - may have bounced in his second start of the year, made a bid and hung 16-1 current odds
Gayego - route debut was good...has plenty of upside - current odds 73-1
Salute The Sarge - big hoss' sprint comeback was sharp... 1 1/4 is a big ??? but worth the current 85-1 odds.

Also, would consider Adriano - who is proven on turf and poly at current odds of 34-1.

Looks like there still is some value in the final future pool.

Good Luck,
Pace Pal Pete