Exaggerator's Need for Off Track Appears Exaggerated

One of the storylines leading up to the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby this past week has been the past performances of Exaggerator, one of the top contenders expected to go to the Churchill Downs starting line. Trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden by his brother Kent, Exaggerator is the son of past Triple Crown participant Curlin, who finished 3rd in the 2007 Derby, won the '07 Preakness, and then that year's Breeders' Cup Classic.

Recent winning efforts have come on off tracks

Much of the buzz around Exaggerator is that he would prefer a wet track for his Derby bid, the evidence being that his most recent prep win in the Santa Anita Derby was accomplished on a wet track, and his previous Grade 1 win came in the mud over Louisiana's Delta Downs. Between those two efforts, he was second in the San Vicente Stakes, and 3rd in the San Felipe stakes, both over fast tracks at Santa Anita. But a closer look at those efforts seems to indicate that he wasn't defeated by track conditions, he was beaten by horses that just ran better on those days.

Has been in contention on fast surfaces as well

In the 7-furlong San Vicente he was able to track close to a wicked pace throughout, never more than a length off the lead through a half-mile in a blazing 44.49, and 3/4 mile in 1.08:56, much, much faster than they are expected to go in the 1 1/4 mile Kentucky Derby. Forced four-wide in the straight, he finished 1 1/2 lengths behind Nyquist, the undefeated Derby favorite. The 1 1/16th mile San Felipe is more of a puzzle, as he made a solid bid late, and then couldn't sustain it. But he was bumped with a quarter-mile to go, and then drifted out, suggesting that a lack of concentration, rather than track condition, caused the problem. Add to this the fact he broke his maiden on a fast Saratoga surface last summer, and he appears to be a more versatile horse than some might think.