Why is King Of They Roxy and Ravel off the Derby trail?

Question

--melissa--

RIP Barbaro♥♥♥♥♥

Answer 1

Ravel was injured http://www.bloodhorse.com/articleindex/a...

King of the Roxy is a bit more complicated.  His pedigree suggests that he would do better at sprints than distance races - and his race record indicates that as well.  It never bodes well for a horse to lose the lead in the stretch at Santa Anita (which is generally considered to be very kind to front-runners).  And the time of the Santa Anita Derby was nothing special.  His connections think that he has a better chance to run well in the Preakness because (a) the surface there is also kind to speedsters (b) horses coming out of the Derby may be a little tired after running such a big race only two weeks earlier and (c) generally there are fewer horses gunning for the front of the Preakness so the early pace is not suicidal.

Answer 2

King of the Roxy was a second-line horse in the vast Pletcher training group and was shipped out West to the Santa Anita Derby basically for a soft spot on that busy weekend of preps.

If you saw the race, he basically stopped running in the final 1/8 mile and - though he was a longshot to enter the Derby starting gate - will be pointed to other graded stakes races this spring/summer.

He was born in Canton, Ohio, and may end up at the Ohio Derby at Thistledown race track in June, for example.

Ravel has an injured front leg.