LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Quantifying a race as the “best ever” or “best in years” is largely a matter of subjective opinion, but there are cold, hard facts that make the 144th Kentucky Derby on Saturday here at Churchill Downs deserving of its prerace huzzahs.
Never before has a Derby featured two Breeders’ Cup winners, something that will happen when Eclipse Award recipient Good Magic, who took the Juvenile last fall, and Mendelssohn, the Juvenile Turf winner, line up.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There’s the usual betting smorgasbord available to bettors on the 14-race Saturday card, including these offerings: three 50-cent pick fives (races 3-7, 8-12, 10-14), four 50-cent pick fours (races 2-5, 5-8, 9-12, 11-14), a $2 Single 6 (races 7-12), and the familiar array of rolling doubles, pick threes, and vertical wagers, including a $1 super high five on the Derby (race 12).
Superfectas are normally available at 10-cent increments, but not on Oaks and Derby Days, when a $1 minimum is in effect.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Including the lone also-eligible, Blended Citizen, among the 21 entered in Kentucky Derby 144 there are six horses listed at 50-1 on the Churchill morning line. They are Firenze Fire, Lone Sailor, Bravazo, Instilled Regard, Combatant, and Blended Citizen. Seven more are pegged at 30-1.
The debate rages, therefore, as to which horse will wind up being the longest shot at post time. A highly informal poll taken this week among media wags landed on Bravazo, but only the international wagering audience has the final answer.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – This guy named Aidan O’Brien has run horses in 61 American races that weren’t on turf and come away with two lousy wins. Some trainer, hey? And his jockey, Ryan Moore? Goose eggs across the win, place, and show columns in 18 American starts that weren’t on turf.
Who do these people think they are, bringing this grandiosely named colt Mendelssohn from Ireland to race in the Kentucky Derby?
Here’s a good place to invoke a useful phrase introduced into the American lexicon by Mark Twain: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”
NBC will debut a wire-cam that runs 15-18 feet above the racing surface of the entire backstretch at Churchill Downs during its broadcasts this week of the Kentucky Derby and other races from Churchill Downs, officials of the network said this week.
The wire-cam is secured by a 1,400-foot long cable that runs down the backstretch, and it will be capable of traveling up to 80 miles per hour, officials said during a conference call on Wednesday previewing the live racing coverage scheduled for Friday and Saturday on NBC and NBCSN.
Only time will tell how good this 3-year-old crop is. We’ll have to see what kind of speed figures they earn as they fully mature, and how this group fares when they compete against older horses. Here’s hoping we have lots of opportunities to see this crop take on the best of their elders.
But with Saturday’s Kentucky Derby now at hand, there is already a strong sense that at the top this is the strongest and deepest Derby class we’ve seen in years. What’s even better, this is an entirely likeable group, too.
Scat Daddy was a talented and tough racehorse who debuted with brilliancy and continued on to become a Grade 1 winner at both 2, when he took the Champagne Stakes, and at 3, when he rolled in the Florida Derby. He typically dug in when facing a challenge in the stretch.
