The Racing Hub : Kentucky Derby

The Best Derby Winner of my Generation - Alysheba

cdawahare — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:14:00 GMT

This 2009 Derby field with the apparent quality and then Alysheba's memorial service this week brought back a flood of memories. ...(read more)

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

cdawahare — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 05:27:00 GMT

What does a horse have to do to get a little respect these days? Looking at the careers of Derby hopefuls Pioneerof the Nile and General Quarters....(read more)

The Derby Road Most Traveled

Blood-Horse Staff — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 18:01:00 GMT

Over the last 25 years, Kentucky Derby winners have finished their last prep race with an average placing of 1.96. Here's a look at where they came from....(read more)

Spotting a Derby Winner

cdawahare — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 14:45:00 GMT

A look back at some of the most memorable Derby prep races over the last twenty years....(read more)

Safety First

cdawahare — Thu, 08 May 2008 16:33:00 GMT

By Alex Waldrop, NTRA.com

Like many of you, I watched Saturday’s Kentucky Derby and was in awe of the amazing performance of Big Brown and his talented jockey, Kent Desormeaux. Big Brown ran a race from the 20th post position that was remarkable. And Desormeaux rode a race that even I could appreciate as very skillful. Unfortunately for racing, events unfolded after the race that completely overshadowed Big Brown’s impressive performance.

Eight Belles, a beautiful gray filly trained by Larry Jones, was galloping out after her imposing second-place finish when something went terribly wrong and she collapsed on the track after fracturing bones in both front legs. Those of us in the stands at Churchill Downs were left wondering what had happened since she went down almost at the 7/8ths pole near the backstretch far away from the grandstand. Our only indication of trouble was the sight of one human ambulance and two horse ambulances making their way to the other side of the track. It clearly did not look good.

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Behind a Derby Favorite, Tragedy and Redemption

cdawahare — Fri, 02 May 2008 19:40:00 GMT

By Tom Pedulla, USA TODAY

LOUISVILLE — "We're live, babe!"

That's horse trainer Richard Dutrow Jr.'s stable-speak, his way of telling friends he expects his colt Big Brown to win the 134th Kentucky Derby on Saturday.

For Big Brown, undefeated but having raced only three times, the Derby (4 p.m. ET, NBC; post time 6:04) is a chance to validate the hype that has made such an inexperienced colt the favorite among oddsmakers to win the most prestigious event in American horse racing.

For Dutrow, 48, the Derby is all that and much more: a potential validation of an unlikely resurgence, in work and in life.

A decade ago Dutrow was at rock bottom, living in Barn 1 at New York's Aqueduct Racetrack and struggling to catch on as a trainer after a tragedy and a series of missteps. His girlfriend had been murdered in a Schenectady, N.Y., home while their toddler daughter was nearby. He had problems with drugs. And his father - a highly regarded Maryland horse trainer who would die of pancreatic cancer in 1999 - had disowned Dutrow, dismayed at the hard-partying son's inability to make something of himself.

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Top 7 Who Won't Win the Derby

cdawahare — Fri, 02 May 2008 17:22:00 GMT

By Patrick Patten, NYTimes.com

There were 38,191 North American foals born in 2005 (hat tip to the Jockey Club), and only 20 will be allowed in the gate in a little over a week. That is, one-twentieth of one percent get into the gate, and yet I am about to tell you that Recapturetheglory, winner of the grade II Illinois Derby is a complete toss. That’s because I’m going to give you my Top 7 Who Won’t Win the Derby list.

Most writers that cover the Derby will give you their top 10, or top 15, or just be extremely lazy and give you every horse in the gate and maybe even a stable pony or two and after the two minutes is over they’ll say, “I told you.” Well, I want to be different, and seeing this is a short-term gig, I can afford to be wrong. I’m going to give you 7 horses that won’t win the Derby; maybe they’ll come close, but no Virginia, there is no Derby winner here.

Adriano Winner of the grade II Lane’s End at Keeneland and confirmed mount for Edgar Prado has only run well on synthetic tracks or the turf. I won’t even hold his lone try on the dirt in the Fountain of Youth against him, where he finished ninth. Graham Motion, his trainer, told me everything I needed to hear after the Lane’s End, “I think we all agree he’s probably more of a turf horse.” And, if you didn’t know, the Derby is held on conventional dirt.

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The Computer Says the Derby Winner Is...

cdawahare — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:58:00 GMT

By Leslie Huddleston

The 2008 edition of C-J Derby DataTrack has now been updated for the last time and contains the Derby Rating, a total based upon a mathematical formula that assigns a value to each of the nearly 60 factors included in the data base.

Derby Ratings can only be generated back to Sea Hero’s win in 1993 because BRIS and Beyer numbers, which are heavily weighted factors in it, were not available before that time for both 2- and 3-year-old seasons. In the 15 years for which Derby Ratings can be assigned to prior winners, 11 of those posted a total of 260 or higher.

The field for Derby 134 contains only four contenders with Derby Ratings of 260 or better. Colonel John tops the list with an impressive figure of 296. Of the 15 prior winners, only Street Sense in 2007 had a better Derby Rating than Colonel John does this year, a 323 that was nearly 40 points higher than his closest rival.

How to Pick a Derby Horse if you are a Newbie

cdawahare — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:34:00 GMT

By Patrick Patten

First, a blog is always about helping people and a “n00b” is slang for newbie, or rookie. You’re welcome. So, you’re also new to the Kentucky Derby, and you’re looking to make your first pick and not look too foolish. Have no fear; I’m here to help you.

Don’t pick the favorite; it’s a total rookie mistake. The favorite has won the race 50 times out of 132 for a 38 percent clip, which is a better rate than favorites usually fare. So, why is it a mistake to pick the favorite? It’s no fun. You don’t get to be different, and, if the favorite wins five minutes after the race no one remembers that you picked the right horse. Go for a horse with some decent odds, not the 50-1 shot, but somewhere between 8-1 and 20-1. If you win with that horse, people will be talking to you for hours. How did you pick him? How did you get so good so fast? Why are you so good looking? The questions go on and on.

Don’t pick the ugly name - Lil E. Tee is the only horse of recent memory to do well with an atrocious name (he won). This year I think you’d have to think twice about Anak Nakal and Cowboy Cal. If you’re a cowboy there’s little chance your name is Cal.

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Don't Get Burned - Pick Pyro

cdawahare — Thu, 01 May 2008 20:30:00 GMT

Courtesy of The New York Times

Dean Keppler, author of Betting the Kentucky Derby: How to Wager and Win on America’s Biggest Horse Race from DRF Press, discussed his approach to betting the Derby earlier this week. Now with the post positions set, he gives us his picks:

1) PYRO
2) ADRIANO
3) Z FORTUNE

For his reasoning and more on how to bet the race,
9-PYRO (6/1) Steve Asmussen’s Pulpit colt was dreadful in his first experience on Keeneland’s Polytrack a little over three weeks ago. He took a trouncing from his 11 other rivals and ran up the track in the Blue Grass at even money. He smoldered a lot of public money that miserable afternoon (including blowing up a pick-four ticket from yours truly) and never lifted a hoof. I’m gambling he makes a complete form reversal Saturday returning to the main dirt track and finally runs back to his impressive Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and Belmont Park Champagne Beyer speed figures (105 and 100 respectively) from last year. His two Derby preps in Louisiana before his Blue Grass debacle were visually impressive, and I’m confident he will be rallying strongly down the long Churchill stretch, showing his traditional push-button acceleration under the confident handling of Sean Bridgmohan.

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HorseRace Insider - Time to Change Kentucky Derby Eligibility Rules

cdawahare — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:13:00 GMT

Win, lose or post position draw, this should be the final year that Kentucky Derby eligibility is determined by earnings, graded or otherwise.

The system has outlived its utility and no longer makes sense. Twenty Derby starters is the modern rule, not the exception. And it matters not whether that this year’s draw involving the filly Eight Belles went smoothly. Using any criteria, she earned her way in.

Admission based on earnings is fraught with inequities to the existing prep process too numerous to mention, and in the future it’s bound to get worse because any track could artificially inflate the importance of its prep race by throwing money at it. That might be good for business but it’s bad for the Derby.

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World's Most Expensive Mint Julep Cup

cdawahare — Thu, 01 May 2008 13:26:00 GMT

By Peter Blair, NYTimes.com

If you watched the Kentucky Derby post position draw Wednesday on ESPN2, perhaps you caught a glimpse of the internationally famous sports artist LeRoy Neiman — how could you miss his mustache? — scribbling away in the crowd.

Neiman’s artwork will be an important part of Derby day.

To celebrate the 35th anniversary of Secretariat’s victory in Kentucky Derby 99, Woodford Reserve is selling “the world’s most expensive mint julep cup” (99 of them, in fact), containing Neiman’s artwork, precious jewels and 24-karat-gold plating. Yours for only $1,000 (a relative bargain when you include the oak box lined with a replica of Secretariat’s silks and learn that the proceeds will benefit The Secretariat Foundation).

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