- Sleepers In Kentucky Derby Contenders
- Sleepers In Kentucky Derby
- Sleepers In Kentucky Derby Results
- Sleepers In The Kentucky Derby
Over the past two weeks DRF.com has given you two “sleepers” for the Kentucky Derby, but the two horses they have given out are really not sleepers at all. One of them was El Padrino, who the week before ran a beyer speed figure of 100 and is at the top of our Derby list. The other was Bodemeister, who the week before ran a beyer speed figure of 99 and is also on our top 20. So here are three TRUE sleepers that our not on our list but we still think could make a big impact on the Derby.
Bet on the 2018 Kentucky Derby here! Kentucky derby Sleepers Good Magic: Currently +900 at Bovada, this guy won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) last fall as a maiden, but horseplayers jumped off his bandwagon after a disappointing third in the Fountain of Youth (G2) in his three-year-old debut. Here are five 2018 Kentucky Derby sleepers you may want to keep an eye (and bet)on: My Boy Jack (+3500 at Sportsbetting.ag) Shopping for value ahead of any big horse racing event is pretty key. My Boy Jack has solid odds just about everywhere, but you’re only getting him at a +2000 price at most horse racing sportsbooks.
1. Blingo – With just two races under his belt, I’m taking a risk putting him as my number one sleeper, but trainer John Sherriffs seems to have a lot of confidence in this one. Blingo broke his maiden at a mile on the turf at Hollywood Park. He then raced in the Grade one CashCall Futurity in his other start, where he finished 6th. His owners are the same owners as Zenyatta’s; Jerry and Ann Moss, and also like Zenyatta, Mike Smith is the rider. Wouldn’t it be great karma for the Mosses and Sherriffs to have a horse win the roses on the first Saturday in May? With this horses distance pedigree it is possible.
2. Shared Property – This horse probably would have won the LeComte Stakes with a better trip; as he had to race very wide into both turns. He looks like a horse that can get the Derby distance withouth much problem. I love his trainer Tom Amoss, and I’m very confident he’ll have him peaking come Derby time. To me this is a horse that has matured a lot from age two to three, and his upside is hard to ignore.
3. Optimizer – I’ve been called a “Lukas Lover” before, and you can go ahead and accuse me of that again if you want. I just think this horse is going to be a true mile and one-quarter type horse. His poor effort in the Smarty Jones had no negative effect on me, and another poor performance in the Southwest won’t bother me either. Optimizer is working bullets at Oaklawn, and when the Rebel and Arkansas Derby comes around, he’s going to be a player.
Kentucky Derby
Saturday, September 5, 2020 – 7:00 PM EDT
Churchill Downs, Louisville, Kentucky
Sleepers In Kentucky Derby Contenders
Update September 5, 2020: Browse the latest Kentucky Derby winner odds on SBR Odds.
The draw has been made for this year’s Kentucky Derby and it perfectly makes sense what has happened in 2020. On Tuesday they had the post positions for the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby. For the first time since 2003, the field will be less than 20, with 18 horses officially entered. As expected, Tiz the Law is the favorite and an immense one at that, with 3/5 horse racing odds on the morning line. That is the lowest odds since Arazi was 9/10 back in 1992 (Finished 8th).
However, there is a major difference in the situation of the two horses that play directly into the making of the odds from top sportsbooks like 5Dimes and others.
As you are likely aware, the Run for the Roses is annually held on the first Saturday of May and horses and trainers have tried to groom and figure out which horses in their stable that are the best three-years-olds and can compete to make history.
Arazi was the two-year-old champion in both North America and Europe, as well as European Horse of the Year coming into that race. But four months is a long time in the maturity of a horse of three years. Tiz the Law won the Belmont and Travers convincingly and enters the Derby with a proven record and several competitors that might have run back in May were injured or have not advanced.
Here is the 2020 part. Tiz the Law drew the next to last post at 17 and since the field was expanded to 20 runners, that is the one position that has never won the race in 41 starts.
Let’s dig deeper into the race to have a greater understanding of what might happen.
The Field, Odds and Post Positions
Here are the current odds, in order of post position (trainer, jockey in parentheses):
- Finnick the Fierce (Hernandez Rey, Martin Garcia) 50-1 odds
- Max Player (Steven M. Asmussen, Ricardo Santana Jr.) 30-1
- Enforceable (Mark E. Casse, Adam Beschizza) 30-1
- Storm the Court (Peter Eurton, Julien Leparoux) 50-1
- Major Fed (Greg Foley, James Graham) 50-1
- King Guillermo (Avila Juan Carlos, Samy Camacho) 20-1
- Money Moves (Todd Pletcher, Javier Castellano) 30-1
- South Bend (Bill Mott, Tyler Gaffalione) 50-1
- Mr. Big News (Bret Calhoun, Gabriel Sáez) 50-1
- Thousand Words (Bob Baffert, Florent Geroux)15-1
- Necker Island (Chris A. Hartman, Miguel Mena) 50-1
- Sole Volante (Patrick L. Biancone, Luca Panici) 30-1
- Attachment Rate (Dale L. Romans, Joe Talamo) 50-1
- Winning Impression (Dallas Stewart, Joe Rocco Jr.) 50-1
- Ny Traffic (Saffie A. Joseph Jr., Paco Lopez) 20-1
- Honor A.P. (John A. Shirreffs, Mike Smith) 5-1
- Tiz the Law (Barclay Tagg, Manny Franco) 3-5
- Authentic (Bob Baffert, John Velazquez) 8-1
The first thing that jumps out is not only the massive favorite way to the outside but the two horses that would be considered the closest competitors are on either side of #17 in Honor A.P. and Authentic.
Honor A.P. is the Santa Anita Derby winner and is the best of the West Coast and will have Hall of Fame rider Mike Smith aboard.
Authentic has a top trainer in Bob Baffert and a very good rider in John Velazquez. The question on #18, does he want to or can he maintain a 1 ¼ to win this race?
Longshots That Can Win or Cash
We have a lot of fresh faces as only two, besides Tiz the Law, have advanced from the Belmont Stakes.
Max Player (30-1) finished third at Belmont and looked good down the backstretch, running evenly (the same speed) with Dr. Post, who finished second, the last 300+ yards. He followed up that effort with another show finish in the Travers. Will Max Player win, unlikely but he deserves consideration in any trifecta and wheel wagers.
Sole Volante (30-1) was chosen by many horseplayers to be a top-three finisher at Belmont and finished a disappointing sixth. However, that’s one race and this horse was considered a contender going into that race for a reason.
Sleepers In Kentucky Derby
King Guillermo (20-1) was a longshot winner in the Tampa Bay Derby and was second at the Arkansas Derby. He’s been off four months but trainer Juan Carlos Avila has trained him to race at Churchill and he has a nice draw position.
Besides Authentic, Baffert also has another horse in this race, Thousand Words (15-1) and word has it he thinks TW can be a real factor and trusts Florent Geroux to follow the game plan.
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Top Picks for the Derby
Sleepers In Kentucky Derby Results
Typically, the Kentucky Derby is what has people thinking about the upcoming summer and it is a very optimistic time.
Tiz the Law not only won two of the biggest races in the summer but set the table by running first in the Holy Bull (G-3 stakes) at Gulfstream Park in February and the Florida Derby (G1) in March. This is the best three-year-old this year and just has to do on the oval.
Betting TtL to win or even across the board is not going to win much unless you bet a lot. That means trying to match #17 with partners in exacta, trifecta and possibly superfecta horse racing bets.
Sleepers In The Kentucky Derby
With this in mind, as we do this piece days before the race and this handicapper has his eyes on Honor A.P., Thousand Words, Max Player, and King Guillermo on what will be various tickets to go along with Tiz the Law.