This post will be my favorites to win the Kentucky Derby going by what has happened so far on the Triple Crown trail. This is completely by opinion, so don't take this all as some kind of expert opinion based off of years and years of crunching numbers. First, this is the list of the top ten graded stakes earners for the Kentucky Derby.
Street Sense ($1,482,000)
Scat Daddy ($1,308,500)
Circular Quay ($1,116,134)
Curlin ($780,000)
Nobiz Like Shobiz ($778,500)
Great Hunter ($752,500)
Stormello ($642,900)
Dominican ($498,484)
Tiago ($450,000)
Cowtown Cat ($437,253)
I'm fairly certain that most of these horses (if not all) will be in the Kentucky Derby if they are healthy and sound at the time. So far, my favorites are Street Sense, Scat Daddy, and Nobiz Like Shobiz. Those three have proven to be at the top of their races time and time again. They're tested, and despite Street Sense's loss last weekend, I think that I can take it to heart when his jockey said that people would see a "much different horse" on Derby Day.
Street Sense has impressed me more than the others that are on the trail, with Scat Daddy close behind in second. I think if these two can provide us with what we've seen of them on their best days, it'll be a Kentucky Derby to remember. I really hope that we'll have a Triple Crown winner someday, but at the moment, let's focus on one race at a time. The Kentucky Derby is the biggest race of the three, with a purse of $2 million.
Happy hunting to all! And to one special horse and connections, roses on that first Saturday in May!
This is a list of my top prospects for the Kentucky Derby. It's still too early to tell as to who I think will win the Derby, much less who I think will be part of the action on Derby Day. For now, these are the ones that still have Derby Dreams. These are my Derby Dreamers. Below them are videos of their latest races when I can find them on Youtube.com.
1. Street Sense: He won the biggest races last year as a two-year-old. He also won the honor of being voted the best two-year-old in the country last year. Now, he's come back a winner for his three-year-old year. He's got the most earnings and outclassed the field in the Tampa Bay Derby. His next stop is the Bluegrass Stakes and then it's on to the Derby for him. I'm not sure if he'll win, but he certainly has a really good shot.
2. Any Given Saturday: I've liked this guy since I first saw him race as a two-year-old. He's got a lot of class and is maturing very nicely. He put up a gutsy second place to Street Sense in the race above. I'd really love to see this rivalry continue through the entire Triple Crown, but as always, let's just take it one race at a time. Shown below winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes this year.
3. Circular Quay: The Louisiana Derby winner has put up some good numbers. He's proven he can do it; he just needs a bit of luck on his side to show everyone out there that he can do it. He's been part of my top horses since I spotted him last year racing. He was shoved to the background by Street Sense last year, but perhaps this year he can outshine the rest of his class.
4. Nobiz Like Shobiz: Winner of this year's Holy Bull Stakes, he's been sitting nicely. He raced fairly well last year, too, beaten by Scat Daddy in last year's Champagne Stakes and then again this year in the Fountain of Youth, where Nobiz Like Shobiz finished behind both Scat Daddy and Stormello. If he improves off of that and shows up for the Derby, he could snatch the roses away from them all.
5. Scat Daddy: Winner of the Fountain of Youth Stakes not long ago, Scat Daddy nailed Stormello at the wire. He proved that his closing kick is one that is going to be there come May. He's a proven winner in both years, and he looks to head what may be one of the most accomplished fields to enter the gates of the Kentucky Derby.
6. Hard Spun: Now that he's returned to his best form, Hard Spun might be something to look at. Written off earlier in the year when his green ways lost him the race, he's straightened himself out a good bit. He's still a little too green to face such stiff competition as Scat Daddy, especially since Hard Spun has been proven to lose interest when he gets the lead. With Scat Daddy's closing kick added to the equation, I'm not sure. But the colt deserves the shot with all of that talent.
Following the tragedy of Barbaro last week, many people have noted that the trail to his Kentucky Derby victory began in the Holy Bull Stakes. This weekend, another talented three-year-old colt came out of the race a winner, inching himself closer to smell the roses of the Kentucky Derby.
Photo: AP/Equi-Photo
Nobiz Like Shobiz had stamped himself as one of the top candidates for the Triple Crown races last year, being one of the top horses of his age. He showed up at the beginning of this year by winning the Holy Bull Stakes. His jockey, Cornelio Velasquez, told Bloodhorse.com that the son of Albert the Great "won easily moving on the lead."
Taking honorable mention in the Holy Bull Stakes was the talented Scat Daddy, winner of the Champagne Stakes last year and another good choice for the Triple Crown races for this year. His trainer, Anthony Sciametta Jr., was said to be very happy with how the colt took the race.
In other Triple Crown news, graded stakes winner Circular Quay will try to make his own bid for the Kentucky Derby in the Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds Racetrack. The son of 1995 Kentucky Derby winner Thunder Gulch will try to prove that he has more left in him after his spectacular two-year-old season, when he won the Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga before finishing second in the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile, both of which are grade one races.
Horses race based on graded (or group in Europe and other places) races. The highest level that a horse can reach is grade one, such as the Kentucky Derby or a Breeders' Cup race. The Breeders' Cup is a series of races that concentrate on bringing the best out of the fields, which are usually made up of the best horses in the world.
After the Kentucky Derby, the Breeders' Cup is the race to work towards for the three year olds (while the older and younger horses are usually taking this time to train and work towards the races later on in the year). In the coming weeks, I will be keeping a sharp eye out for spotlight horses that will be part of my own Daily Dozen for the Derby. These will be the horses that have stood out to me, and the ones that I would like to make up the field for the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby.
