The Davids amongst the Golieths

Every sport has an underdog. Horse racing is no different.

While there may be horses that are absolutely filled with the blue blood of Kentucky grown pedigrees, there are some horses out there that come out of nowhere every year to capture the hearts and imaginations of on-lookers.

We all know about the Any Given Saturdays and the other familiar faces of last year. But there are still others that continue to impress while remaining under the radar.

For example, the little talked about Great Hunter will be racing soon in the Robert Lewis Stakes on Saturday. He has been improving constantly in his works, yet not many are regarding him as a Derby contender, despite his monstrous career to date. Also, another horse to look at would be Joe Got Even, a winner already this year in Derby prep races.

But perhaps my top candidate coming in under the radar would be Flying First Class, a colt trained by the Kentucky Derby winning trainer Wayne Lukas. He broke his maiden by a tremendous eight lengths and received a Beyer figure of a whopping 107! He also came home in a fast final quarter of a mile against a strong headwind! He certainly has his Hall of Fame trainer excited about the colt's future. And I'm a Wayne Lukas fan. His last Kentucky Derby win was in 1999, and I feel that he's due for another one. Watch the 1999 Kentucky Derby below.