Golden Tempo - Last to First
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
It happened in 2022 and it happened again in 2026. It was the same race.
The two lead speed demons from both years who came in second place in the UAE Derby, both trained by Bhupat Seemar, took the same suicidal path and knocked the Derby into a tailspin up front.
Both of those Japanese horses from both years ran unsustainable charges loose on the lead and both were finished by the 3/4 pole.
Twelve entries out of eighteen were banged, bumped, squeezed or blocked - with Intrepido, Litmus Test, and on several occasions, Further Ado and Commandment, taking the worst of it. Ocelli didn't care who he mowed down..
And Renegade. His start was brutal.
The Top Seven on the race results chart comprised of 6 rear runners, exactly what happened in 2022.
Danon Bourbon was the only colt who remained untouched and unfazed running up front and held for 5th place. Epicenter was that guy in 2022. Both of them running far superior races with the cards that were dealt.
The awkwardness of the race resulted in a $94,489.95 payday for a $1.00 superfecta ticket.
It was a closers paradise again and for those who play stacked superfectas may have been all around it, but Ocelli hitting that board as well trashed those boxed tickets.
And there it is and none of it matters moving forward. It never does.
Watch what happens to many of them who had a tough race here after the dust settles.
The Preakness, Belmont, Haskell, Travers, Pennsylvania Derby, etc, will bring it all back into reality within a much more fair playing field for some of these higher quality horses. The tables will turn. It always does.
With that, I'm sorry that our killer Futures tickets were duds, but the names on those tickets certainly are not.
Many of the better trainers who sit their horses out of the Preakness for rest and recuperation will come back and test them at Saratoga in a much more stable and controlled atmosphere in the 10f Belmont.
That is where the real talent will prevail.
It's time for a break. See you at the Belmont.