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A Denis of Cork digression
Just when the War Pass-triggered throbbing was beginning to subside, we must turn however briefly to another potential migraine inducer: The decision by Denis of Cork’s connections to pass on the Rebel Stakes and instead wait for the Wood Memorial or the $500,000 Illinois Derby (Gr. 2) at Hawthorne the same weekend.

The official explanation from trainer David Carroll was that Denis of Cork is a light-framed horse who needs time between starts to keep his weight up. Passing the Rebel means he’ll have just one race in 11 weeks before the Kentucky Derby (assuming he ends up running), and will have just four lifetime starts. He should, however, be at his optimal weight.

Here’s what he was quoted as saying in explaining the decision in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette: "This was a tough decision. There's really not a right or wrong way to go. In the end, you've got to live with it. We just think this is in the horse's best interest."

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Hmmmmm. That doesn’t sound like a move made with much conviction, does it?

Carroll is a sharp horseman, and we’ve already discussed in this column the trend of racing young horses less heading into the Triple Crown.

Still, I don’t like it when a horse gets the kid glove treatment prior to the Kentucky Derby. It often suggests that a horse doesn’t have the constitution to run 1 ¼ miles on the first Saturday in May and that the owner and trainer know that and are trying to compensate.

Denis of Cork is undoubtedly a very talented racehorse, but time will tell if he’s good enough to wear the roses.

Meantime, Blood-Horse columnist Steve Haskin has a very interesting discussion of this in his weekly column. Click here and scroll down a ways if you want to read more on the subject.

A hole in Pyro's game?
With War Pass’ dismal effort this weekend, Pyro has inherited the top spot on every Derby Top 10 list that I’ve seen. But might he have a hole in his game as well? Reader Rob Slifer of Pittsburgh thinks he might.

Rob says he’s not usually too worried about time in races, but he noticed after Pyro’s victory in the $600,000 Louisiana Derby (Gr. 2) on March 8 that the running time of 1:44.44 was more than 3/10ths of a second slower than the 1:44.01 clocked a race earlier by the 3-year-old filly Proud Spell in winning the Fair Grounds Oaks.

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That raises this question in his mind: “Is Pryo really as impressive as his races show or is he just beating a bunch of ‘SLOW’ horses and looking good doing it?”

My take is that Pyro would have run faster if he hadn’t been chasing a slow pace and he did finish faster than the filly, so I’m not too concerned about that discrepancy. But I’d like to hear your thoughts on whether he’s the real deal or the next pretender to be knocked down on the way to Louisville. Again, click on this link to e-mail me.

And finally, no column would be complete without a comment from reader Chrys Bean of Arizona, aka the “Rank Outsider,” who took me up on last week’s question about whether it’s wise to forgive one bad performance from a good horse leading up to the Derby. Here’s what she had to say about that.

“Many factors can contribute to an "off" day -- heck, we have them, why shouldn't they? … These kids are still learning the game, and I'm so compassionate and tender-hearted that to me none of them are capable of running a "bad" race. … They're running; they're trying; and sometimes they just lose track (pun again -- dang) of what they're supposed to be doing.”

Amen to that, sister!

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