DAN ILLMAN

RICH STRIKE WE THE PEOPLE CREATIVE MINISTER BARBER ROAD

To many, RICH STRIKE’s Kentucky Derby win was a one-off fluke aided by a perfect trip and pace scenario. While he did get the ideal setup from behind blazing fractions and received a flawless ride from Sonny Leon, he also showed the agility to hit every hole and really fired in the stretch to run down two extremely good 3-year-olds. The connections made the bold decision to skip the Triple Crown quest and Rich Strike responded with some quick workouts at his Churchill Downs base. The pace scenario might be completely different this time around so we’ll learn a good deal more about his overall quality. The feeling here is he’s gotten good at the right time.

WE THE PEOPLE looms the controlling speed and showed an affinity for this surface with a gate-to-wire romp in the Peter Pan. He earned a very fast Beyer Speed Figure in that race and could be extremely tough to catch if he posts slow fractions. Lightly raced with plenty of upside potential, We the People must last this demanding distance.

CREATIVE MINISTER continues to move forward on the Beyer scale and he tried hard finishing third in the Preakness. Either of the top-two finishers from that race would be favored here, and Creative Minister kept punching on, attempting to rally over that speed-friendly track. Believe he has the tactical speed to stay close to a moderate pace.

BARBER ROAD is underrated despite his consistency. He ran just fine in the Derby although he, like the top pick, was aided by the hot pace. He used to show speed in his races so it will be interesting to see if the connections make a concerted effort to stay closer than in his recent starts.

MO DONEGAL appears to be a horse that will relish this distance, and he ran down subsequent Preakness winner Early Voting after a perfect ride in the Wood Memorial. He should be rallying stoutly in the stretch.