Kentucky Derby ripe for the upset -- Why not Royal Mo?
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After the Rebel Stakes, I was a little down on Royal Mo. In my eyes, he is the most physically impressive of all the Kentucky Derby 2017 contenders, but he absolutely laid an egg in Arkansas. I'm also a little down on this year's Santa Anita Derby. The top five finished lapped on to each other, and they crawled home in one of the slowest editions I've ever seen. So why is that I'm back on Royal Mo as a horse in which I will be including on my tickets on the first Saturday of May?
It makes no sense, right? Well, first off, let me preface this by saying that I'm looking forward to playing him as a longshot. If he is not 20-1 or higher, my enthusiasm for getting on him at Churchill Downs will wane significantly. I do think he will have big odds, though, so that should not be a problem. Provided of course he gets in. Sitting with 30 points should be enough, but he will be one of the last few to qualify.
Whether he is in or not, I believe 2017 has to play a part in how I will bet on the Derby. This group is certainly not the strongest crew in recent years. Consistent upsets are proof of that. Why should the big one be any different? With this group, anything can happen -- and someone has to win. It seems only wise to have some horses with big odds on my tickets. Still, why Royal Mo?
Despite much of the attention after the Santa Anita Derby going to the plucky winner, Gormley, the game pace setter, Battle of Midway, and the wide rallier, Reach The World, I was thoroughly impressed with the race run by Royal Mo. Stuck out in the 13-hole, there was no way I was going to bet him in the Santa Anita Derby. Horses don't win from out there.
I'll tell you what, he almost did. Parked out wide the entire race, he ran with Battle of Midway through fast fractions, and for my money, was every bit as game as that one, despite running quite a bit farther. If Gary Stevens does not drop the whip in the stretch, he might have done even better than his third-place finish, beaten one length.
Considering the suicidal pace battle, and how much ground he gave up, I am willing to forgive how slow the race was in the final furlongs. His Kentucky Derby winning trainer, John Shirreffs, certainly was happy with not only his winner, Gormley, but also his third-place finisher. “It was an excellent race for him,” Shirreffs said of Royal Mo. “He was wide from a bad post position. I thought he ran super.”
So, establishing the fact that Royal Mo ran a better race than merely a third-place finish in a slow Santa Anita Derby, there are a few other things that caught my eye.
The way he fought on between horses, after looking beaten in mid-stretch, shows me a lot of heart. Perhaps the kind of heart that could match his sizable frame. He's still learning, but courage combined with a horse growing into that physique could pose problems for his competition down the road. Perhaps this year, in an upside down season on the Derby trail, down the road just might come on May 6.
Yesterday's race also marked the first time that the three-time Kentucky Derby winning jockey, Gary Stevens rode Royal Mo. He also got off liking what he found in the hulking son of Uncle Mo. “I really like what I felt, a lot like I did with Silver Charm," said Stevens. "I lost a battle yesterday but I might have won the war, because he put in a hell of an effort, got a lot of fitness, and a lot of schooling out of it.”
Yes, it's true, Royal Mo is far from perfect as he heads to the Kentucky Derby, but who among this cast of contenders is? Look what happened in the Blue Grass. A maiden won it for the first time in history. By the way, that maiden, Irap, is the same horse who ran a well beaten second behind Royal Mo in the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February.
This year feels like a Derby ripe for the upset, so I say, "Why not Royal Mo?"
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