The last time it produced a Derby winner was 27 years ago. The Remsen is not a bellwether for next spring. Mo Donegal has raced three times for Todd Pletcher, finishing third in a sprint and then first as the favorite in a one-turn, 8½-furlong maiden race before winning the Remsen.Ĭold water can be thrown on both horses. Nobody has bet Mo Donegal yet.”Ĭlearly, the two Pauls and the betting public in Las Vegas are more bullish on Zandon, a Chad Brown-trained colt by Upstart who broke his maiden in a debut victory going 6 furlongs Oct.

“I took decent action prior to (Saturday’s) race,” Circa risk manager Paul Zilm said. It was the same story at Circa, where the traffic has been one-way on the Remsen’s top two. “It was Zandon’s first time (going) two turns, so I give him more room for improvement. “They ran each other to a nose decision,” said Paul Bach, manager of Delaware trading for Caesars. He went to 50-1 at Caesars and 35-1 at Circa.Ĭhalk it up to perception. Despite his victory, Mo Donegal did not shorten so much. After they finished just a nose apart, second-place Zandon’s odds were cut the most - to 30-1 at Caesars and 25-1 at Circa. Before the Remsen, Mo Donegal had been 75-1 at Caesars at William Hill Nevada and 100-1 at Circa. Then Las Vegas weighed in by hitting refresh on its Kentucky Derby futures odds. When each got a Beyer Speed Figure of 89 for his performance, it underscored the impression that the Remsen had not settled anything. When the race was not made official right away because runner-up rider John Velazquez unsuccessfully claimed foul against winning Irad Ortiz Jr., it buttressed the belief that Zandon might have been the better horse. When 7-5 Mo Donegal won by a nose against 6-5 Zandon on Saturday in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, it was a mild upset. If they had met again, though, does anyone doubt Cincinnati would have been an underdog?Īpply the same practice to horse racing. It was all about their result on the field this fall. Remember last weekend, when it appeared for a little while that Notre Dame might crash the College Football Playoff? Visions of the Irish playing with Alabama and Georgia and Cincinnati were dancing in the heads of their fans - until the Ann Arbor Khakis burst those thought bubbles.īefore the wake-up call, there was a not-so-subtle reminder that had the dream come true, the Bearcats would have been seeded No.

X mirage trial closes