Spring is in the Air

With the 2008 Spring Meet upon us, that certain smell is in the air and you can feel the buzz around town. The throng of media and return of the horse population here at Churchill Downs definitely makes one aware of the fast approaching Kentucky Derby and the return to live racing here in Louisville.

You see quite a bit of coverage these days concerning the top three-year-olds and their quest for roses, especially dealing with their workouts in the morning leading up to the first Saturday in May. While much credence is given to these works, I wonder if the times printed in the program and the gushing reports from journalists can really tell you about how the horse is doing.

It is easy to forget that their past performances leading up to the big race are equally as important as the flashy morning reports you will see plastered all over the place over the next couple of weeks.

Sometimes, there is just an overabundance of information presented concerning Kentucky Derby contenders and people can simply get confused as to what is important and what is put on the page as filler. Something gets in the water around Kentucky Derby time, and all of a sudden it seems that any sophomore contender who has a shot to get into the starting gate turns into a "beautiful specimen" who "moves fluidly" and "within himself" every time they grace us with their presence.

A bit of objectivity when looking at the prospective field can go a long way when it comes to placing your wagers. Certainly there will be a few who blossom in the next 10 days and their appearance both on and off the track will catch the eye, but in the end you are dealing with a horse race.

This is not to say that the works don't matter, as evidenced in 2004 with Smarty Jones, Barbaro (2006), and Street Sense and Hard Spun last year. If you remember, Hard Spun blazed around the Churchill Downs oval only 5 days prior to his start and there were many who thought he had "left his race on the track" by going too fast in the morning. After all was said and done that might have been just what he needed, as he was able to lead and hang on for a credible second place finish to Street Sense.

With the plethora of information coming your way, it might be wise to decide what to digest and what to discard. Most, if not all of the field have shown their constitution and ability in actual races this Spring, and I have a sneaking suspicion that this might be the key to handicapping this year's seemingly wide open Run For The Roses.