They are pretty good at sealing the track at CD, but no amount of sealing could have prevented the track from degrading...at least an inch or 2 of rain fell in 30 minutes, and the track officially went from "fast" to "sloppy", so I'm not sure whether you can make any conclusions about the Derby based on earlier races.
The half mile fractions for the last 5 Kentucky Derbys are as follows: 46.23, 47.04, 44.86, 45.99, 47.88. That puts the 46.73 pace set by Lion Heart in the middle somewhere. I don't see how the fourth fastest half mile in the past 6 years can be described as "blistering".
We could argue all day about whether the track bias aided the winners, or whether Smarty Jones won simply because he is the best horse, and that is what makes horse racing interesting. I think that question will be answered Saturday as Smarty Jones takes the Preakness on his way to the first Triple Crown in over 30 years. The parallels between Smarty Jones and Seattle Slew are numerous.
Mark
