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Okay, so I have some major adjusting to do from my last Top 10 on March 14. Odysseus (previously No. 1) was injured in a disappointing Blue Grass, Noble's Promise (No. 4) was banged up after a disappointing Arkansas Derby, Interactif (No. 6) might not even be entered in the Derby after a disappointing Blue Grass, Drosselmeyer (No. 7) does not have ...

Who will make the graded earnings cut and who won't? It's a question that is enough to drive us mad. Luckily, the Blue Grass and Arkansas Derby will be run on Saturday and they will help sort everything out for us. Well, almost. We still have the Lexington Stakes next weekend, which will offer one more spot to the winner, but for the most ...

Through three months of the Kentucky Derby prep season, for the most part, we watched one unspectacular effort after another. Many of the prep winners wired their respective fields after setting pedestrian paces and having ideal trips, and the ones who did come from off the pace, well, you just kind of got the feeling that they weren't going to ...

Remember my blog post last week when I wrote it might take $150,000 to make the Derby? Well, that might need to be revised. Here is the current graded earnings list. While at least four in the top 20 are not pointing toward Churchill, it still looks like it may take at least $150,000, and maybe as much as $180,000 or more to get in the ...

In 2007 Todd Pletcher saddled five Kentucky Derby starters. Though none of them would wind up hitting the board, Pletcher was the main focus of attention in the week leading up to the classic with his horses occupying one quarter of the field. Three years later, it is starting to look like five starters will be the absolute minimum Pletcher ...

With a little more than five weeks to go until the Derby and about 10 prep races remaining, it's not a bad idea to take a quick look at the graded earnings list. Granted, there is still a lot to be decided as we hit the homestretch and defections almost always happen in the last couple of weeks, but it is still worth taking a snapshot at what the ...

If you're a regular reader of this blog you know by now that I am a big fan of Odysseus. I liked him when he broke his maiden and even more after his allowance. His run in the Tampa Bay Derby, while not accomplished in a blazing time, was very impressive visually and showed the type of determination you want to see from a Kentucky Derby ...

What a bittersweet weekend of racing. It was the best day of Triple Crown preps we've seen to date, with the Tampa Bay Derby and Rebel both being decided by a nose, and the San Felipe by a half-length. Unfortunately, things soured a bit as we watched Rachel Alexandra get upset by Zardana. And the next day the Rachel camp confirmed what we all ...

If you're a racing fan, you can't ask for much more than what is on tap Saturday: three important Kentucky Derby preps and the season debuts of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. The 3-year-old races will give us a much clearer picture of the top Derby contenders and set things up well for the final preps. As far as Rachel and Zenyatta, let's just ...

It's amazing how one bad race--or in this case, a stroke of bad luck--can change the Kentucky Derby picture. Prior to the Fountain of Youth, many people had Buddy's Saint near the top of their Derby lists. Along with Lookin At Lucky, he was the most impressive 2-year-old in the country and had been working very well up to the Fountain of ...