Two horses will add blinkers for the Kentucky Derby: Liaison, who has been off-the-board in all three starts this year; and Went the Day Well, coming off a win in the Spiral.
***
My Adonis, 21st on the graded earnings list to crack the 20-horse field, is the first also-eligible in Derby history. He will run if any of the other entrants scratch out of the race by 9 a.m. Friday.
If My Adonis does get in, he would be in post 20, with the other horses moving inside.
“Last year we actually had Ruler On Ice entered in case something happened at the last minute,” trainer Kelly Breen said. “He didn’t get in, but he went on the win the Belmont.”
***
l Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, who has done the morning line for every Derby since 1975, explained his reasoning on making Bodemeister the chalk.
“His Arkansas Derby was huge,” he said. “He got a big number, 10 points higher than any other on the Beyer scale, which the bettors look at. He’s one of those horses improving at the right time, so I gave him a little edge over Union Rags.
“It was very close. If Bodemeister had drawn the 1 [post] or even the 2, I would’ve switched them and made Union Rags the favorite.
“I haven’t had two favorites this close since Street Sense and Curlin [in 2007]. I wanted to make them the co-favorite and didn’t. They went off 10 cents apart.”
ed.fountaine@nypost.com
Kentucky Derby, Kelly Breen, Derby history, Arkansas Derby, horses, Mike Battaglia
No comments:
Post a Comment