Kentucky Derby pedigree analysis: Who is bred for the distance?
The Kentucky Derby will be the first start at a mile and a quarter for each of the 20 horses expected to enter the gate for Saturday’s race.
Joe NevillsMay 04, 2013
The Kentucky Derby will be the first start at a mile and a quarter for each of the 20 horses expected to enter the gate for Saturday’s race.
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Louisiana Derby winner Revolutionary and Santa Anita Derby winner Goldencents were, somewhat surprisingly, the 5-1 co-choices over Florida Derby winner Orb when advance wagering closed for Saturday’s Kentucky Derby early Friday evening.
For as many fairy tales that could have come true during this year's Kentucky Derby saga, just as many ended way too soon for the people closest tot he 3-year-olds who fell by the wayside on the long haul to Churchill Downs.
The horses in this year’s Kentucky Derby will be racing for more than just the purse money and a gold trophy. They’ll also be racing to build résumés for their stallion careers and add to the legacies of their sire lines.
Frank Irvin – the owner of Fear the Kitten, who was excluded from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby after initially being an also-eligible entrant – expressed dismay Friday at circumstances that prevented his horse from gaining entry in the Derby, even following the scratch of Black Onyx from the race late Friday morning.
If there is something missing from the Phipps family’s résumé, it is a Kentucky Derby win. On Saturday, the Phipps family will have its best chance to correct that flaw when Orb heads the 20-horse field expected to run in the 139th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
When trainer Shug McGaughey left New York late last year for his winter base in Florida, Orb owned only a maiden win, and McGaughey was thinking allowance race with him. But following wins in the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby, Orb comes into the Kentucky Derby as the morning-line favorite – something McGaughey said he couldn’t have imagined at the start of the year.
The early Friday morning session featured the first local appearances of both the European invader Lines of Battle and Giant Finish. Lines of Battle had been quarantined since arriving here Wednesday, while Giant Finish, a very late addition to the Derby lineup, vanned to Churchill Downs from his Maryland base Thursday.
Countdown to the Crown is Jeremy Plonk's weekly comprehensive handicapper’s scouting report of the 3-year-old scene. This week, let’s stack up the Derby 139 cast and see if their famous forerunners can help us see into their futures.