LOUISVILLE, Ky. – 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 ahead of the 148th Run for the Roses. Aggregate handle (win and exacta) was nearly $1.9 million. Those pools were held Nov. 25-28, January 21-23, Feb. 11-13, March 11-13, and April 7-9.

CHURCHILL DOWNS
Weather: Cloudy
Temperature:  57
Track:  Fast

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – 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.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The numbers are staggering.

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. He has trained the American Horse of the Year four times, including three years in a row, with Curlin in 2007 and 2008 and Rachel Alexandra in 2009.

Last summer, the number in Asmussen’s head was 9,446, the victory that would make him the sport’s winning-most North American trainer.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – 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.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – 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.

“Obviously, everyone in the room knows this has been a very different way of getting to the Derby winner’s circle, or accepting a Derby win,” Cox said. “But I’m very proud of Mandaloun and the race that he ran.”

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The traditional bounty of wagering options Friday and Saturday on Churchill racing includes a couple of new Derby Day bets.

The new Saturday wagers are a 50-cent pick five comprising main-track stakes, starting with the Knicks Go (race 6), and a $3-minimum all-3-year-old pick three (Pat Day Mile, American Turf, Derby).

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.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Brad Cox keeps getting asked what it feels like to win the Kentucky Derby the way he did.

“More than 100 times,” said Cox. “Maybe not 200, but yeah, a lot.”

CHURCHILL DOWNS

Weather: Raining

Temp: 65

Track: Sloppy

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Weather was the story on Tuesday at Churchill Downs, with rain, heavy at times, beginning just as the track opened for training and continuing right up to the first renovation break nearly two hours later. The strip was sealed and sloppy the entire morning, including during the special Kentucky Derby/Oaks session at 7:30 a.m.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The homework now begins in earnest for the jockeys of the 148th Kentucky Derby following Monday afternoon's post position draw.

"[A lot] depends on me and studying my race," said Reylu Gutierrez, who will ride the late-running Barber Road as his first Derby mount.

Barber Road and Gutierrez landed in post 14 in the full field, and first-time Derby trainer John Ortiz is fine with that.