As of posting time — on this Saturday — The Sham has just been completed at Santa Anita.  It was a very nice run for Goldencents – who is developing nicely on his quest to be a factor in Kentucky in early may.   I get the sense that he will have to develop quite a bit beyond his current ability level, as this race had a very nice setup for Goldencents as he beat limited competition in an “okay way”,  but was NOT spectacular to me . Still it’s worth remembering that O’Neil is very capable, getting better and better at handling Derby stock, so this colt has a chance to be going forward in development.   On the East Coast, we saw a very game Vyjack win over a major long-shot in Siete De Oros who didn’t have much of a fig coming into the Jerome.   The fact remains that Vyjack was racing with the bias, so for this race to suggest that he is a contender for the Kentucky Derby, I will have to see some seriously big figures, otherwise it will always look like a hard earned victory- “while racing with an inside speed bias”.

The “inside Speed Bias” was very strong at Aqueduct on Saturday!

Princess of Salymar looked great in winning the Busanda, which after her “perfect” trip, she needed to opening up on that field, and she did!   It will still look to me as if she won against modest company while racing with the bias, but that being said, she did what was required and when she got some running room at the 3/16th pole, she took off in a nice way…   She seems pretty good to me and probably better than the fig she will have earned today…