LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Friesan Fire was a lukewarm 9-2 favorite for the 135th Kentucky Derby after early wagering for the race closed Friday evening.
As of 7 p.m. Eastern, and with $463,185 bet into the win pool, General Quarters was a surprise second choice at 5-1, with the morning-line favorite I Want Revenge the third choice at 6-1. Dunkirk was fourth at 8-1, Chocolate Candy fifth at 9-1, and Pioneerof the Nile sixth at 10-1.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - By now, the story of Tom McCarthy has been well told - the improbability of a 75-year-old retired high school principal making it to the Kentucky Derby with General Quarters as the ultimate underdog on racing's greatest stage.
No doubt about it, the odds of McCarthy making the Derby with a one-horse stable after decades of obscurity can't be much shorter than hitting the Powerball lottery. Yet McCarthy is just one of six trainers whose Derby debut will come Saturday at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Quality Road, who was forced to miss the Kentucky Derby due to a quarter crack in his right front foot, has not yet returned to the track and will not be ready to run in the Preakness on May 16.
"If we could get him back [training] early enough, we wouldn't rule the Belmont out, but he has to get going pretty quick that's for sure," trainer Jimmy Jerkens said Thursday by phone from Belmont Park.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Somebody sent Larry Jones a photograph early last summer. Jones had it in his truck this week. It was taken at ground level at the midpoint of Churchill Downs's clubhouse turn. In the middle of the frame is Eight Belles, galloping out after finishing second in the 2008 Kentucky Derby.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - All 20 Kentucky Derby starters went to the track Thursday at Churchill Downs - one last chance to see the field for this year's Derby before making a final assessment. There were a few surprises, both good and bad, in the offing.
Churchill Downs
Cloudy, track fast, 67 degrees
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - In the summer of 2007, there was no hotter team than trainer Bill Mott and owner Ahmed Zayat. In the six-week Saratoga meet that year, Mott won 12 races for Zayat Stables, seven of them with 2-year-olds.
But success in this game can be fleeting. And by the end of 2008, Mott and Zayat had, save a horse or two, split up. Part of it had to do with results - Mott went 2 for 26 for Zayat at Saratoga in 2008. Part of it had to do with Mott's desire to downsize his stable from 150 horses, a third of which were owned by Zayat.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - There are plenty of ways to get to the Kentucky Derby. Easiest is paying a small sum, walking through the tunnel and onto the infield, and planting yourself among the masses. If you want to pony up the dough, you might procure a fancy seat, maybe even an all-access Derby VIP pass. Or, go buy any old racehorse, get an owner's license, and see the Derby horses up close and personal on the Churchill Downs backstretch Derby Week.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - All the important work is over, the post positions have been drawn, and now it's just a matter of keeping all 20 starters for this year's Kentucky Derby happy and healthy over the next 72 hours.
All the participants were on the grounds as of 2 a.m. Wednesday, with the arrival of Atomic Rain from Monmouth Park, and 19 of the 20 starters in this year's Derby field went to the racetrack during the course of the morning. The lone exception was I Want Revenge, who had worked four furlongs the previous day.
Churchill Downs
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - This is the fifth time trainer Jeff Mullins has brought a horse to the Kentucky Derby, but the first time he will send out the favorite. From his rural roots in Murray, Utah, to first having success in Arizona, and then to the Southern California circuit, Mullins said he never could have imagined being in this position.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The defection of Win Willy on Wednesday morning from the Kentucky Derby opened a spot in the maximum 20-horse field, and it was quickly filled by Nowhere to Hide, whom trainer Nick Zito said would now be entered.
Zito, a two-time Kentucky Derby winner, said Shaun Bridgmohan would ride.
Win Willy, the Rebel Stakes winner, has the beginnings of a fracture in his left front pastern, trainer Mac Robertson said Wednesday morning.
