CHURCHILL DOWNS
RACE 11
THE KENTUCKY DERBY
This race will all come down to how the first 1/4 is run, who gets position in this 20 horse field. Most of the top contenders drew ok post with maybe No. 2 Carpe Diem drawing to the inside. J.R. will get him out good and he is a must use especially at 8/1 when the highest odds he has ever been was 2/1 in the Grade I BC Futurity at Keeneland, a race in which he won. His stablemate No. 3 Materiality 12/1 must overcome the curse of Apollo, as he did not run as a 2yo. No. 6 Mubtaahij 20/1 on the morning line is a must use as his last two wins have come at 1-3/16. He has a top euro trainer and jock, he will be coming late to round out the trifectas and supers. On the surface Baffert holds the two aces with the undefeated No. 8 Dortmund 3/1 who owns a win over this Churchill surface and No. 18 American Pharoah who many say is the second coming. No. 10 Firing Line almost took Dortmund down two times and we will be using at 12/1 with big race Gary Stevens in the irons. 8-18 with 2-3-6-10
Richard Saber, a former director of race and sports at the famed Stardust book, is GamingToday’s horse racing and sports handicapper. Follow Richard on Twitter @SabesBet. Contact Richard at [email protected].