Of course, all the excitement of Kentucky Derby 144 will be shown on the jumbo screen; in Simulcast; and in Pacer’s Clubhouse!
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Looking in on the Derby from outside allowed him to appreciate the race and evaluate the horses he hoped would put him back in the field.
The European invader Mendelssohn was tagged second choice on the morning line at odds of 5-1 and will break from post 14 under jockey Ryan Moore. As recently as 1987, for instance, Alysheba had run 10 times prior to the Kentucky Derby including a final prep in the Blue Grass just nine days earlier. It’s incongruous. The further removed I am, the more I realize what I’ve been supporting all these years.
When predicting winners, there are some important stats to remember.
Past year one of her horses, Always Dreaming, won the Kentucky Derby.
The order also makes a difference.
Todd Pletcher is another trainer who is on a lot of casual fans tip sheets. The Derby is run every year on the first Saturday in May. Breeders’ Cup is expected to draw tens of thousands to Kentucky to see the world’s top Thoroughbred horses compete in the racing season’s grand finale. After watching from his sofa in Southern California previous year, Bob Baffert is back at the Kentucky Derby with early favorite Justify. Justify beat Bolt D’Oro by three lengths in the Santa Anita Derby.
“I think all the good horses are in good spots, ” Baffert said. This is horse racing, where a second can change everything.
But Justify is on a winning streak.
Justify made his debut on February 18 and has swept three races, most recently the Santa Anita Derby by 3 lengths last month.
BC-RAC-Kentucky Derby-Baffert, 645 Baffert back at Kentucky Derby with another favoriteAP Photo KYCR122, KYCR113, KYCR120Eds: With AP Photos. After becoming only the sixth horse to win the Derby with an unbeaten record, Barbaro looked like he could be on the way to the Triple Crown when disaster struck in the Preakness Stakes two weeks later – he shattered his leg shortly after getting out of the starting gates.
“The win was Mendelssohn’s third straight for top Irish trainer Aidan O’Brien, who has had one of the best career’s in racehorse-training history”, according to a profile of the horse on the Kentucky Derby’s website.
The WinStar run really began in 2005, when owner Kenny Troutt asked Walden, at the time a successful trainer (he guided Victory Gallop and Menifee to second-place finishes in the Derby), if he wanted to oversee the entire operation.
Streaking GI Santa Anita Oaks heroine and potential GI Kentucky Oaks favorite Midnight Bisou (Midnight Lute) immediately caught the eye as she entered the track and jogged along the outer rail. He’s finished second three times, too, including in 2012 with Bodemeister, also the last time he had two starters in the same year.
Both Justify and Magnum Moon are out to prove that Apollo’s Curse is just a superstition.
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group.
Magnum Moon is now sitting at 6-1 odds in gate No. 16. Perkins said he enjoys horse racing, and he’s been a regular at Bluegrass Downs for the past 10 years. Bob Baffert, with four Kentucky Derby winners on his resume, including Triple Crown victor American Pharoah, has both Solomini and Justify in action on Saturday.
It’s not as if Baffert and Pletcher were handed a bunch of million-dollar bluebloods when they went out on their own. He also trains Solomini, who landed the No. 17 post and was installed as a 30-1 long shot by Churchill Downs’ oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.
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This Amazon-sponsored horse is going places. Magnum Moon drew post 13, with the other three in the auxiliary gate (posts 15-20).
