Derby Day

Even though I know very little about Horse Racing I still enjoy watching the Kentucky Derby and putting a few dollars down on a horse or two. This year's field of 20 is a tough group to pick from and given my lack of knowledge I typically choose horses that are good at closing and hope the speed horses burn out from starting too fast. The advantage of this wagering gives me hope all through the race so that even if my horse starts out near the back I know that he will eventually make his move. When I pick the speed horses I get all excited when they get out to the early lead and then I am crushed as horse after horse passes them in the backstretch.

The Favorites this year are Lawyer Ron, Brother Derek and Barbaro. All three are very good horses who have been on a roll lately. The problem with betting the favorites is that they seldom win the Derby. The Derby is a unique race because of its length and the size of the field and I think this disrupts a lot of the favorite horses. Of the three I like Brother Derek the best.

The trendy value picks are Point Determined, Sinister Minister, Bob and John, Sweet Northern Saint and AP Warrior. This means that these are good horses who have a chance to win but you get better odds on your money. I also like to play these types of horses but I might stay away from this group this year. The only horse I like in this group is Sweet Northern Saint. Supposedly he has had the best week of training of all the horses in the race.

The surprise winners could include Jazil, Steppenwolfer, Showing Up, Cause to Believe and Storm Treasure. This is the group with the closers that I like and I will probably pick one of them to show and include them in my trifecta. Doing that is a nice way to increase the value of the trifecta bet. I fully expect Jazil to be the best of this bunch as long as he can stay close enough to the leader and stay out of traffic.

This year's longshots are Keyed Entry, Sharp Humor, Private Vow, Bluegrass Cat, Deputy Glitters, Seaside Retreat and Flashy Bull. These are all bad horses and the only one I like is Seaside Retreat but that is simply because of the name.

Without further ado here are my top 3 picks:

Sweet northern Saint
Brother Derek
Jazil

Good luck this year and remember the good thing about horse racing is that anybody can pick the winners and you don't need to know anything about the sport. All you have to do is pick the horse you like and cheer wildly for two and a half minutes.

Current Odds as of noon Saturday.
Jazil
30-1

Steppenwolfer
30-1

Keyed Entry
30-1

Sinister Minister
12-1

Point Determined
12-1

Showing Up
20-1

Bob and John
12-1

Barbaro
4-1

Sharp Humor
20-1

A.P. Warrior
15-1

Sweetnorthernsaint
10-1

Private Vow
50-1

Bluegrass Cat
30-1

Deputy Glitters
50-1

Seaside Retreat
50-1

Cause to Believe
50-1

Lawyer Ron
4-1

Brother Derek
3-1

Storm Treasure
50-1


Flashy Bull
50-1