Mystik Dan

[tenfurlongs]

Dell, that was spectacular! Your faith was well rewarded. You are the man!




TW

[cherokeescot]

Dell , great pick . Hope you cashed big 🤑

[ski]

Masterful and ballsy ride. Great trip.

What a dramatic finish!


I am doing my part to keep the passion of the sport going. My 16 year old son had the winner with a $5 show. The old man owes him $20.

[5wide]

There goes the myth in my mind that the prep has to have no setbacks

"We pushed this horse last fall, and it backfired and he had a lung infection," McPeek said of Mystik Dan's Nov. 25 race just two weeks after winning his first career race. "Then we came back in the Smarty Jones and pushed him again because we felt like we were behind the eight ball, and he came out of that race tired.

"So we regrouped, and came up with a plan, and he rewarded us with a Southwest Stakes (G3) win. And then we decided we'd give him some time and put all our eggs in the Arkansas Derby (G1) basket. We wanted to win, but we needed the points, and he came out of that race better than ever and ready for the Kentucky Derby."

www.horseracingnation.com/news/Kentucky_Derby_Mystik_Dan_holds_on_for_17_1_upset_win_123

[grommet]

Yes indeed, well done Dell! After I saw Sarava and Edgar Prado at Old Friends Farm last summer, Sarava died a couple weeks later. This spring I thought how fitting it would be if Sarava's trainer Kenny McPeek finally won the Oaks or Derby the year after his Belmont winner passed away. Then I wondered if he could win both, which seemed implausible. The fact that it happened is surreal. What a weekend for McPeek and Hernandez.

[mysaladdays]

I watched Mystic Dan's bathtime this morning after the KY Derby day. He is a super nice horse. He is very professional and tractable and stood there very compliant. He was charming in his stall and loves his peppermints. A very nice horse for sure!

I'm so glad Dell got a windfall as payment for his loyalty. He stuck with it like double sided tape.

McPeek won another Stakes race today at Oaklawn.  And Steve Asmussen was in the paddocks, saddling and prepping his own horses all day on a truly muddy day.   

I am forever in awe of the work ethic of many in horse racing.  24/7, 365 days a year, taking care of living beings who need attention. 


(one of reasons I am so resolute about my negative feeling for alleged cheaters and short-cutters.  Such a great disservice to those who work so hard and are kept from realizing the fruits of their labor).  

[grommet]

Indeed - well said, Salad Days!

[mysaladdays]

I went back over Mystik Dan's races.

I think McPeek did an excellent training job moving the horse forward.   Does slow really matter IF you are moving a horse forward to "get the job done?"    That's all you need if you are going to be the winner in that race. 

Looking at all previous PPs on Mystik Dan, his running style changed a lot and McPeek trained him differently along the way with a goal in mind?

---He seems to have been more of a pace/presser as he was a designated E6 going into the Smarty Jones back in January, where he was not mentally prepared or used to pressure yet from the front and from behind and Just Steel gave him some problems and he had Leparoux aboard for that race. He seems like he had to slow down a bit encountering all that pace pressure.

---He was still an E6 entering the Feb Southwest Stakes where he seemed to start putting it together....some thought it was the wet track but it very well could have been the rail trip guidance by Hernandez. Which is what I thought.

---By the time he ran in the AR Derby he was a ++E/P 4. But he had to go wide in that one.

---Before the KY Derby he was designated as a P3.

So it looks like he turned into more into a closer/late pace horses with racing experience and that McPeek trained him to start doing better in the stretch run closing part of races.  And his jockey Brian knew the horse well (which is why I like horses who stick with jockeys who know them) and was able to provide that guidance to the rail.   Having not been able to do so in the AR Derby.  

Problem with him may be that he does well when he is close to inside ..... If he has to go wide like he had to in AR Derby, he is not as effective. Something to keep I will keep in mind.

However, I sure don't mind saying that a trainer who trained with a specific goal in mind, and a jockey who was on the same page, and they both had a PLAN for this horse , to win the KY Derby, that tooks months and months of work.........and all anyone can talk about is speed his BSF and final race times. 

This just doesn't make much sense to me.   Getting the preferred result is what matters.  

[Badactor]

Miss Laura and myself will likely be nominated to the Handicappers Hall Of Fame. 
Catching the winner, Mystik Dan @ 106-1, Pool 2 in November '23 was the key.
I invested $40 into the futures ($5 Pool 2) and also played $10 WIN on Derby Day.

Best Kentucky Derby of my handicapping career.   $50 IN - $1100+ OUT.

[Deleted]

seems you're
just coming down
hope u bought yourself
something nice!
is he in the
preakness
or knot?

[docd]

May 11, 2024 13:27:18 GMT -5 @merasmag said:

seems you're
just coming down
hope u bought yourself
something nice!
is he in the
preakness
or knot?

IN

[1hooper]

May 11, 2024 13:27:18 GMT -5 @merasmag said:

seems you're
just coming down
hope u bought yourself
something nice!
is he in the
preakness
or knot?

Mystik Dan, the horse who won the Kentucky Derby by a nose in the race's closest finish in more than a half-century, is heading to the Preakness next weekend after all, keeping alive the chance of another Triple Crown winner.

Trainer Kenny McPeek announced the decision Saturday after speaking with owners and weighing the pros and cons of racing his horse again on a short, two-week turnaround. He initially expressed concern about that timeframe after Mystik Dan ran poorly under the same circumstances in November.

www.espn.com/horse-racing/story/_/id/40125083/kentucky-derby-winner-mystik-dan-heading-preakness