Kentucky Derby: Even longest longshot won't be 100-1
It’s been 21 years since a Derby starter was 99-1 on the Churchill toteboard, and it appears unlikely that drought will end this year.
Marty McGeeMay 04, 2022
It’s been 21 years since a Derby starter was 99-1 on the Churchill toteboard, and it appears unlikely that drought will end this year.
Aside from the plethora of familiar wagering options Saturday, Churchill is offering two new multi-race bets.
Fans who climbed aboard the Epicenter or Zandon bandwagon well before each colt established himself as a Kentucky Derby favorite have an edge on their fellow futures bettors. Zandon was 56-1 and Epicenter was 52-1 in the first of five pools in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager offered by Churchill Downs.
Crown Pride was all the rage, and rightfully so, Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs after turning in a powerful and very impressive final breeze for Saturday's Kentucky Derby.
Horses trained by Steve Asmussen made 2,427 starts during 2021. Asmussen, as of Monday, had won 9,727 races during his career. He has won eight Breeders' Cup races, won the Preakness twice, and won the Belmont once. This spring, as the 148th Kentucky Derby looms, the number that keeps coming up is zero.
They say breed the best to the best, and hope for the best. Mandy Pope began seriously upgrading her broodmare band about a decade ago in order to follow that maxim, and has established one of the best in the country. That has led her to Kentucky Derby week, where she's hoping for the best with her lightly raced Charge It.
The annual Kentucky Thoroughbred Association’s Kentucky Derby Trainers’ Dinner always includes a trophy presentation to the reigning Derby-winning trainer. This year’s honoree, Brad Cox, was quick to acknowledge the elephant in the room Tuesday night at the Speed Art Museum in Louisville.
The traditional bounty of wagering options Friday and Saturday on Churchill racing includes a couple of new Derby Day bets.
It often takes longer for a stallion to prove himself as a broodmare sire than as a sire of sires. With no expensive stud deals in the offing, fillies sometimes race longer than colts – and, of course, once retired, they only have one foal a year to begin building their resume, as compared to a stallion, who will have dozens of shots at stakes victories in each crop.
Trainer Brad Cox won last year's Kentucky Derby, but nine months after it was run when Mandaloun was awarded the victory on the disqualification of Medina Spirit. This year, Cox has three starters in the 2022 Derby – Cyberknife, Zozos, and Tawny Port – and he is hoping for a raceday victory by one of them.