Mike Watchmaker

With the Kentucky Jockey Club, Remsen, and Hollywood Prevue having been run over the Thanksgiving weekend, I thought it would be fun to check in on the latest Kentucky Derby future book odds, courtesy of the race and sports book at Wynn Las Vegas.

It’s heartening to see that this year’s Eclipse Award discussion won’t be as rancorous as it was the last two years. That, however, doesn’t mean the run up to this year’s Eclipse Award vote won’t include some passionate debate, specifically concerning the two most wide open divisions: Older male, and 3-year-old male.

Hello from Churchill Downs on Breeders' Cup Saturday. The day dawned frosty, but clear, which is good because the sun will be needed to help dry out the main track. I got a close up look at the track this morning and was surprised at how much moisture was still in it. The track is being floated and squeezed as I write this, but it was just announced that it will soon be cut open and harrowed. It was also just announced that while there is an outside shot the track could be labeled "fast" for the first race, it will likely start off as good.

Greetings from Churchill Downs on Breeders' Cup Friday, where at 11:50 a.m., it is overcast and breezy. The one thing I'm going to focus on early is how Churchill's main track plays, because there has been, in my opinion, a streak of dead rails on big race days here. I believe the rail was dead here on Foster Day last summer, on Kentucky Derby and Oaks Days here last spring, and on both Breeders' Cup Days here last year.

If you have been following the run up to the Breeders’ Cup this fall, you would probably agree that there were few surprises at the just completed pre-entry stage. But what surprises there were at the pre-entries, for me, anyway, concerned the first preferences of four of the horses cross-entered in two Breeders’ Cup events.