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We're continuing our analysis of the 2011 Kentucky Derby contenders but we'll be ignoring the Dialed In's and the Uncle Mo's to analyze some of the more obscure contenders that have emerged onto the scene by scoring dramatic upsets or cobbling together a few solid place finishes in recent weeks.
Soldat (War Front) was considered to be one of those major contenders at one point about two months ago after he stormed to the lead in the Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream. He proved his dirt chops by taking that one fresh off his dirt debut in a mid-level allowance contest where he Beyered extremely well and won by 10 lengths.
The gloss came off when he couldn't replicate his form in the Florida Derby and was hided by the likes of Dialed In....
The real reason why I think Midnight Interlude is a strong Derby play is that he really got a nightmare trip but handled it with aplomb – three-wide the whole way, five or six-wide at the quarter pole and then checking and having to regroup and STILL hitting the line first. It was a smash and grab raid for the Bob Baffert charge and that's the type of performance I like to see heading into a 20 horse football game.
The really interesting variable in the race already looks to be Aidan O'Brien's Master of Hounds (Kingmambo) who, despite being American-bred, is based in Ireland. A well-beaten sixth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf last year, he switched over to the synthetic at Meydan to run an impressive second-place to the mighty filly Khawlah (Cape Cross...
The secret to betting on this year's Kentucky Derby seems to be that there is no secret – with virtually all of the early favourites failing to perform to expectations in their higher-profile Derby preps. Aside from the irrepressible Dialed In (Mineshaft), who hasn't been without his own setbacks, there are no genuine favourites with the high-profile Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner Uncle Mo (Indian Charlie) being dramatically upstaged in the Wood Memorial and then being dogged by some controversy over whether connections were being completely transparent with Uncle Mo's fitness levels.
Even The Factor (War Front) was well-beaten last weekend with Archarcharch (Arch) storming to victory in the Arkansas Derby. It looks as though we'll likely have a board...
Fairyhouse plays host to the Irish National next Monday and the ante post market is already in full swing with a fair amount of value on offer – especially if you're looking to stay off the current betting choice Beautiful Sound.
Priced around 6/1 with most major bookmakers, the nine-year-old son of Presenting is fresh off a credible third-place finish in the Byrne Group Plate at this year's Cheltenham Festival. While that certainly isn't one of the main attractions of the meet, acquitting yourself well on your first go on English soil is a great way to build up some momentum. Lightly-raced for an older horse, the Gordon Elliott charge is 3/5 on the chase circuit with the aforementioned Cheltenham race being his sole third-place performance. His worst run came...
David Pipe will be saddling the ten-year-old Faasel for this one and he looks to be a genuine live mount for this one. He's actually got a solid run over the Sandown surface before and he enters off some decent improvement in the Kim Muir at Cheltenham when he finished second to Junior when sent off at 20/1. His second place finish at Cheltenham the previous year, to this year's National winner Ballabriggs, looks even better now. He was 20/1 again on the day. Look for him to track the leaders and attempt to go up a gear on the run-in. His price is already starting to drop with some bookies listing him at 16s and others as high as 33/1.
Faasel is definitely an honest performer and he looks to be in the process of taking enough money to result in more than one price drop...
It appears as though punters are responding to the emphatic statements from Nigel Twiston-Davies about the chances of his star foxhunter Baby Run and his looming switch over to the handicap circuit ahead of this weekend's Bet365 Gold Cup. The popular Sandown fixture is a true test for many of the National Hunt's more blue collar types and the Aintree winner (and Cheltenham disaster) is being backed down as low as 5/1 ahead of this Saturday's contest.
We'll be taking a look at him and several of the other top contenders in our two-part series.
I was aboard Baby Run for both of his recent high-profile races and his tumble at Cheltenham really seemed to be the cost of doing business on these types of contenders but it also led you to question whether the...
It doesn’t seem to matter where you are, or what’s going on: if there are live TV cameras rolling, eventually someone’s going to drop their threads and show the world what they got (or don’t).
Since just about every professional sporting event is televised these days, and at least half the people in the crowd can shoot video from their cell phones, it’s a given that if you strut your stuff on the field, it’s going to be seen across the world.
I’ve scoured the web looking for the best videos of streakers from all of the sports we cover; this is what I’ve found:
This Group 3 contest has a small field of colts and geldings going 1m on the grass. Native Khan (Azamour) is getting plenty of attention ahead of this one as the entire colts in this race will likely have their eyes fixed on the Guineas if they can take a result in this one. The Ed Dunlop-trained grey captured a Group 3 last year before running 4/10 in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy in his seasonal bow. A series of sharp recent works and some fast ground lend credibility to his claims but he might go off at a relatively short price. Libranno (Librettist) looks to be the chief competition here and he goes off as the high-weight. He won a Group 2 last year and switches back to Ryan Moore.
4:45
Another Group 3 contest is up next and this one goes 1m1f with a...
While a number of major early-season races claim to be the de facto kick-off of the flat, the Craven Meeting is always the one that gets it well and truly underway across the board. Wednesday’s action produced some very interesting results and the impact will likely be felt in the ante post markets over the next two and a half weeks or so – primarily in the 1000 Guineas market.
Thursday’s contests at Newmarket look quite interesting and we’ll be attempting to navigate our way through the day’s card – not an easy task considering all of the debutantes set to line up.
1:50
The opener is a tricky 5f dash for debutante females – only one has a race under her belt at this point. It’s certainly up in the air but Tea Cup...
Martin Kaymer is still a reasonable favourite with Ladbrokes sending him out at (8-1) as he’s the world number one and has been supremely consistent over the past couple seasons. A bounce back in Malaysia is certainly realistic.
I really thought McIlroy was very surprisingly upbeat following his loss and his youthful nature may mitigate what could have been a season ruining implosion. Accordingly, Ladbrokes sending him out second best at (10-1) is a reasonable line, but there’s still no telling what his energy level may be like this week.
Energy level is also a concern for the Masters champion, Charl Schwartzel, but he did take down the year’s first major and he fits right in third on the betting board with Labrokes number at (12-1).
