Potential Derby champion? Bodemeister

Wasnt yesterday an interesting day of racing? It all began with the two year old champion , Hansen barely losing to Dullhan, then front-running Bodemeister who went off at 2-1 odds, won by an impressive 9 1/2 length win. I had never heard of this horse before yesterday... But obviously Bob Baffert had this little secret weapon of his, under covers for quite some time. I really love these kind of horses, the kind that can lead the whole way and blow up and produce a huge victory with no sign of tiring. Watching the Arkansas derby for the first time, I was telling myself that ok, he has a 2 length lead but there is no way, absolutely no way he can win . But as he rounded the far turn, and headed home, it was as if he found another gear and he seemed to be going faster and faster with each stride, and I even thought I saw his stride increase in length. This horse looks like a decent runner, his conformation is really great. He has a nice head, nice balance and his overall appearance is nice. So who is he? Thats what I was asking myself while watching the race, and I decided to do some research on him and his pedigree. His sire is Empire Maker, and his mother is Untouched Talent. Some notable horses on his father's side include names such as Unbridled and he can be traced back to Northern Dancer and Dr. Fager.. On his mothers's side he can be traced back to Ap Indy,Storm Bird, Storm Cat , Seattle Slew and Secretariat. I am really intrigued by his breeding... mainly because he is not spectacular on his dad's side but strongest on his mother's side. This horse is not a fluke at all. His sire, Empire Maker won the 2003 Florida Derby and went on to win the Wood Memorial which made him a favorite for the 2003 derby. In the derby he placed 2nd behind Smarty Jones, and he later went on to win the 2003 Belmont on a sloppy , yielding track. His mother , Untouched Talent was not as talented as his father, placing second in her only grade 1 race and placing second in her grade 2 and grade 3 races . So do I think he has a chance in the derby? Yes... However, it will be interesting to see what post position he receives. He won the Arkansas derby from post 11, and won impressively but can he repeat that performance in the derby if he is in post 1, or in the middle? I also believe removing his blinkers had an impact on this horse's performance, as this was the case in the San Felipe . In that race, he wore blinkers and was leading for most of the race and only lost to Creative Cause by a quarter of a length. I think without the blinkers, he was and is more focused. I also like his trainer, Bob Baffert who produced 2001 Preakness and Belmont winner, Point Given. He seems to know his horses and always has a trick up his hat. So I will not make a final call on this horse until post position. draw day, but he seems genuine and seems to have the proper pedigree to go the distance.