Thirsty For Some Action
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The question on everyone's mind is which horse can make a
comeback? Every single favorite on this year’s Derby trail lost their final
prep. Early in the year To Honor and Serve failed to recapture his juvenile form
when he finished a lackluster third place in the Fountain of Youth. Then, in
the final series of preps we saw the demise of Soldat, Stay Thirsty, Uncle Mo,
and The Factor. The Factor has since been removed from the Kentucky Derby,
after having surgery to repair a displaced pallet.
Now the question is which one of these horses deserves a mulligan? All had been very consistent up to their lackluster efforts and they all had very legitimate excuses as to why they may have performed so poorly. Soldat got stuck on a dead rail in the Florida Derby and never looked interested once he was taken off the pace. Uncle Mo was found to have a GI infection during the running of his Wood Memorial. The Factor was the victim of a failed experiment to rate and ended up displacing his pallet. Finally, Stay Thirsty was also victim to a failed experiment, while this one involved using blinkers for the first time, and he did not enjoy the humidity of Florida after coming from the crisp, cool New York climate.
Now the question is which one of these horses deserves a mulligan? All had been very consistent up to their lackluster efforts and they all had very legitimate excuses as to why they may have performed so poorly. Soldat got stuck on a dead rail in the Florida Derby and never looked interested once he was taken off the pace. Uncle Mo was found to have a GI infection during the running of his Wood Memorial. The Factor was the victim of a failed experiment to rate and ended up displacing his pallet. Finally, Stay Thirsty was also victim to a failed experiment, while this one involved using blinkers for the first time, and he did not enjoy the humidity of Florida after coming from the crisp, cool New York climate.
As the Derby draws nearer everyone is finding excuses as to why their horse deserves that second chance. Everyone is finding reasons as to why their horse will rebound this time around. Every horse is getting that mulligan, except for Stay Thirsty. Out of all the horses he had one of the most legitimate excuses for his loss, and ever since coming to Kentucky, he is training as well or maybe even better than most.
Stay Thirsty has never gotten a chance to stand in the limelight, not even after winning the Gotham Stakes. As a juvenile he was overshadowed by his stablemate, Uncle Mo. Then he was beaten by Boys at Toscanova in the Hopeful Stakes. As a 3yr old he returned with a nice win in the Gotham, but people still knocked his final clocking and how greenly he ran. In the Florida Derby nobody gave him an excuse, even though he wore blinkers for the first time and was not given enough time to adjust to the much more humid climate. Coming into the Derby, many people had all but tossed him.
I understand how radical of a turn around it would take in order for this horse to win the Derby, but with such a wide open field he may have a shot. His first work at Churchill Downs was five furlongs in one minute flat, run in the slop. That clocking is much faster than many others have been working. Reports are that he is filling out, muscling up, and has become sharper and more focused. His most recent work suggests that the reports are true. He, who was always urged to keep up with Uncle Mo, in works earlier this year, was on the bit and virtually matched strides with Uncle Mo throughout the work.
Stay Thirsty may have lost the Florida Derby and it may have been a bad performance, but he is turning things around and doing it quick. If the colt continues to improve at the rate he has been there is no reason to think he could not pull a huge upset come Derby Day.
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