2017 Kentucky Derby Betting Preview PT 1

It's only a few weeks now until the biggest American classic race of the year unfolds at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. This year's derby is a bit of a variation on the last few go-arounds since there hasn't really been a key stand-out contender emerging and the racing pundits stateside are widely viewing this one as one of the biggest head scratchers in years in terms of how open the contest is expected to be.

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You can imagine that there will be more than a few racing observers who are going to be pushing for a long shot selection here since plenty of talented longshots are in the mix here – many boasting serious upside.

It's been pretty tough to put a handle on the favourites position with more than a few racing pundits having placed their long term future wagers on completely incorrect horses who never succeeded in moving through to the next level after a promising run or two early in the year or late in 2016. Some of the form from back then is still certainly holding up though and you'll find that the likes of Classic Empire is now firmly back in the mix having won the Juvenile last year but then fading a bit from the headlines as he was troubled by both a lack of form on his seasonal debut and a brief series of injuries that left question marks over top of his ability to participate in the Kentucky Derby this year and the rest of the trail afterwards.

You'll find Classic Empire duking it out with Florida Derby winner Always Dreaming for the genuine ante post favourites position at this point in time. And, based on that, you can assume that the odds will likely hold in somewagering capacity unless we see a significant injury and a withdrawal from the race itself.

Todd Pletcher trains Always Dreaming and he was able to post a really solid victory over the likes of State of Honour and Gunnevera in the Florida Derby – you can expect him to build on that but the fact remains that the Florida Derby has not been one of the best reference races over the last few years with only a handfull of runners from there actually able to perform credibly on the day of the Kentucky Derby.