Hitting any pick four requires some degree of good fortune, and when that race includes a 19-horse Kentucky Derby, you need a little extra luck. Knowing how difficult it is, let’s still swing away, knowing the mutuel upside, starting with the Distaff Turf Mile.
Race 8
Handicappers Matt Bernier and Kenny Peck are going head to head with $500 to wager on the Kentucky Derby Day card at Churchill Downs.
Friday was a disastrous day, where I recovered only $30 thanks to a scratch. My biggest regret is underrating Lovely Maria as I would love to be alive in the Oaks/Derby double and the Oaks/Woodford/Derby pick three. Best of luck if you are.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – American Pharoah floats like a butterfly. Dortmund stings like a bee. They might be the greatest one-two punch in this city since Muhammad Ali.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – El Kabeir made it through the harsh New York winter to get to Churchill Downs, but he won’t make the starting gate for Saturday’s 141st Kentucky Derby.
Due to a bruise of his left front foot – the extent of which is not yet completely known – El Kabeir was officially scratched Friday afternoon from Saturday’s Kentucky Derby.
Let’s say you have $50 that you would like to wager on the best two minutes in sports. How should you break up that money? You could just pick your favorite horse and put all $50 on win, place, or show. In a 20-horse field that’s a fair strategy, since the odds will be good with so many options to bet. However, in a race like the Kentucky Derby it’s fun to mix things up and use that money to play a few different wagers.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – El Kabeir’s status for Saturday’s 141st Kentucky Derby might be in doubt after the colt showed tenderness in his left front foot Friday morning, forcing the gray colt to remain in the barn rather than train.
His connections said they would work on the foot Friday and hope to train him Saturday morning, at which time they would decide whether to run.
“If he is not sound, he will be scratched,” said Justin Zayat, the son of and racing manager for his father, Ahmed Zayat.
For horseplayers who crave large fields, they don’t get much bigger than those offered in the Kentucky Oaks-Woodford Reserve-Kentucky Derby pick three that straddles the Friday and Saturday cards at Churchill Downs. The races could average 15 starters each, with the Oaks capped at 14, the Woodford drawing 12, and the Derby cutoff 20.
FRIDAY
How do you find a Kentucky Derby longshot worth tossing onto tickets?
The simple answer would be to sidle on over to the Dallas Stewart barn.
Stewart, defying astronomical odds, has two years in a row sent out a bomber who finished second and lit up the Derby tote board. Commanding Curve hit at 37-1 last year, paying $31.80 to place and partnering with race favorite California Chrome for a $340 exacta. And in 2013, it was Golden Soul chugging home second to the favored Orb at 34-1, paying $38.60 to place and keying an exacta that paid $981.60.
