“We were No. 13 and we won the Breeders’ Cup”, Reddam said, grinning. In Dubai, he started dead last then circled the field to win by three-quarters of a length. “So we’re feeling good”.
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But Broker’s Tip did win the Derby, and he takes his place in history, commemorated on the official Kentucky Derby julep glass.
Perhaps the most noteworthy result of Wednesday’s post position draw was the placement of ‘TDN Rising Star’ and San Felipe victor Danzing Candy (Twirling Candy) in the far-outside 20 hole. That’s right, it’s just as important to remember your hat for the derby as it is for the jockey’s to remember their horses.
“Is he going to send hard to clear?” “I said, ‘I wish someone had told me'”. Now, O’Neill might be thinking about going for the lead. “That’s the most interesting thing”.
One of the most intriguing elements in this field is the number of favorites who come from off the pace, but it was unclear who would be on the lead. He will face both of them again Saturday and Baffert knows you can’t even begin to count the ways you can lose this classic race.
Meanwhile, this scribe has a personal record on the line, having picked four Derby winners in a row in this space in LEO Weekly: I’ll Have Another, Orb, California Chrome and American Pharoah.
Japanese entry Lani is listed at 30-1. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin tosses out the clunker, saying Mohaymen has had “only two bad minutes in his entire life”. The horse beginning in the No. 16 post position has won twice during that stretch, with Shagaf sitting in that spot this year.
All the major contenders dodged a bullet when Wood Memorial runner-up Trojan Nation, a maiden, drew the dreaded No. 1 post.
Rob Carr/Getty Images Sport/Getty ImagesLOUISVILLE, KY – MAY 03: Kentucky Derby trainer Steve Asmussen shoots video of his horses schooling in the paddock following a training session at Churchill Downs on May 03, 2016 in Louisville, Kentucky.
Which horses are the favorites to win the Kentucky Derby?
“I’m very happy with 13 and very happy with how well he’s doing”, O’Neill said. His best two-turn figure, a 94 earned in the Florida Derby, is no better than many others in here – of his 19 rivals, nine have run at least that fast in a two-turn race. But as the days grow fewer until the first Saturday in May, the crowds have grown substantially. I don’t think he’ll get the Derby distance of 1¼ miles. “If the pace comes back a little bit, we hope he’ll be one of the first pouncers”.
Trainers (by post position): 1, Patrick Gallagher. “It’s good for the closers”.
Exaggerator, ridden by Kent Desormeaux wins the Santa Anita Derby. On the other hand, he has already lost to Nyquist three times. Nyquist flew off to Florida for the Florida Derby, where he met the darling of the Eastern press, Mohaymen, in Mohaymen’s own house – and sent that one to the showers. He’s surrounded by horses with similar running styles and shouldn’t get shuffled back.
The outside slot went to Danzing Candy, fourth in the Santa Anita Derby. The rest of the field crumbled before Exaggerator’s relentless run in that muddy race.
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Before we get to the race itself on Saturday, however, we must first learn where the unbelievable 3-year-old thoroughbreds will be in the gate for their post positions. “That’s a ideal spot for the favorite, ” Romans said.
