Running of the Roses

Germond’s picks for 2006: “I’m going with Barbaro, who has shown he can win on any surface and has attracted Edgar Prado, who had a choice of several mounts. I am passing Brother Derek. California horses are like political celebrities who seem to expect special handling — those five-horse fields, for example — for no apparent reason. My longshot is Bluegrass Cat, who has shown little but has good breeding that is more important at the track than in the Senate.