Sunday, May 03, 2009

Mine That Bird defies Handicapping logic

Virtually every rule about how to handicap a race would steer you away from every picking Mine That Bird.

Here is what you are supposed to look at when picking a Derby winner on the left and what Mine That Bird actually had on the Right:

High Beyer Figure: Mine That Bird’s highest Beyer Figure was an 81

Grade 1 Wins: None

Grade 2 Wins
: None

Low Dosage Index: Mine That Bird’s was 5.40-the highest in the field

Wins as a 3 year old: None

Wins on Dirt: None

A Synthetic runner: 6 of 8 starts on Synthetics

Maybe sometimes it is just as simple as getting the perfect trip. Sometimes you throw all the numbers out and hope your horse gets the right trip around the oval.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree. A handicapper would go broke betting horses that had similar form to Mine That Bird's. I like Birdstone sired horses going long but I liked the other one in the Derby.
I watched the Sunland Derby again and saw nothing that indicated he would win the Kentucky Derby in his next race.
I am stunned.

The Turk said...

It makes no sense, but such is life. Mine That Bird!

Bill said...

His Mothers mother was a mud Lark and won a Graded Race at a mile and 1/8th in Canada in the slop. Female Breeding bodes well for the Derby. Too bad I used this info and put him in the #2 hole behind The Nile and Dunkirk to collect zippo. Still love the breeding aspect of it all!!