Wednesday, May 01, 2019

Kentucky Derby Countdown - The Contenders, Post Positions, Odds and Background


With just three days remaining it is time to get serious and here are the tools you need to be serious.  Following you will find the Derby horses in the Run for the Roses, the Post Positions, pretty pictures, and what background I can easily dig up.

It is amazing how few times many of the horses have been run in their two and three year old careers but it is a continuation of a pattern in recent years to only run enough to qualify for the Derby and maybe get a race in at a longer distance.



Pay attention, this stuff is important.

Here's the rundown of the post position and every horse's morning line odds.


Kentucky Derby Horses

PP           Horse                                                Opening Odds

1

War of Will
20-1

2
Tax
20-1

3
By My Standards
20-1

4
Gray Magician
50-1

5
Improbable
6-1

6
Vekoma
20-1

7
Maximum Security
10-1

8
Tacitus
10-1

9
Plus Que Parfait
30-1

10
Cutting Humor
30-1

11
Haikal
30-1

12
Omaha Beach
4-1

13
Code of Honor
15-1

14
Win Win Win
15-1

15
Master Fencer (JPN)
50-1

16
Game Winner
5-1

17
Roadster
6-1

18
Long Range Toddy
30-1

19
Spinoff
30-1

20
Country House
30


Background

War of Will


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
War of Will is a son of hot Sire War Front and out of the Sadler's Wells dam Visions of Clarity (IRE). The family line is very strong with this bay colt. Starting his racing career at Woodbine in Canada, the Southern campaigns have proven more fruitful for the Mark Casse trainee.
War of Will won the Lecomte Stakes and Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds, but won a sneaky maiden special weight at Churchill Downs prior to those efforts. He did finish a competitive 5th in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf, 4th in the Dixiana Bourbon Stakes at Keeneland and ran second in the Grade 1 Summer Stakes at Woodbine in September.
With a strong turf favorability in his pedigree, the wins at Fair Grounds leaves no doubt that he can run on dirt as well.

Tax


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Tax improved from a third-place finish in the Remsen Stakes at Aqueduct, with a first place win in the Withers Stakes. Having traveled over the Churchill Downs surface to place second and eventually break his maiden at Keeneland in his second start, the bay gelding by Arch shows growing potential on the Kentucky Derby Trail. Tax is ridden by jockey Junior Alvarado and trained by Danny Gargan.

By My Standards


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
By My Standards has been training up to the 145th Kentucky Derby off a 22-1 upset score in the Louisiana Derby (G2) at Fair Grounds in late March. The bay colt was making his stakes bow in that nine-furlong affair after breaking his maiden by 4 1/4 lengths in his fourth try one race prior. By My Standards is the first Kentucky Derby runner for his trainer, Bret Calhoun, who saddled the son of two-time Breeders' Cup Mile (G1) king Goldencents to a runner-up effort at Churchill Downs in his debut last November. Campaigned by Allied Racing Stable LLC, the Kentucky-bred colt is out of dual stakes winner A Jealous Woman.


Gray Magician


rACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE

DATE
2nd
UAE DERBY
Meydan Racecourse
II
About 1 3/16 Miles

Mar 30, 2019
4th
Sham Stakes
Santa Anita Park
III
1 Mile
Jan 5, 2019

Improbable


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Improbable is a student of dual Triple Crown winning trainer Bob Baffert. With some of the same connections as Justify in owners WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and Starlight Racing. Undefeated in three starts, with a win in the Los Alamitos Cash Call Futurity, the West Coast based chestnut colt did win the Street Sense across the Churchill Downs dirty track. This is a promising sign that he could be a horse for the course when time comes to potentially enter the starting gates for the Kentucky Derby.

Vekoma


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Vekoma is by Candy Ride (ARG) out of the Las Flores H. and Humana Distaff winner Monda De Momma by Speightstown. Vekoma is trained by George Weaver and has a solid record of hitting the board with wins in his first start, the Nashua S. and most recently the Blue Grass Stakes. His only non winning placement was a third in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream Park.

Maximum Security


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Maximum Security is by lightly raced sire New Year's Day, who suffered an injury two months after taking the 2013 Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1) and was retired to stud. The bay colt wired the Florida Derby (G1) at Gulfstream Park to earn 100 points and give trainer Jason Servis another shot at Kentucky Derby (G1) glory following Smarty Jones' 2004 victory. Maximum Security was making his stakes bow in the Florida Derby and moved his record to a perfect four-for-four for owners Gary and Mary West. The Kentucky-bred moved up the ranks from a maiden claimer to Grade 1 fame in very short time, something his dam, Lil Indy, was never able to accomplish. Lil Indy was no slouch in the pedigree department, though, being by Anasheed and a half-sister to multiple Grade 1-winning millionaire and sire Flat Out.

Tacitus


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Tacitus is a gray homebred of the impressive Juddmonte Farms and out of 2014 Champion Older Mare Close Hatches. Close Hatches finished 2nd to Beholder in the 2013 Breeders' Cup Distaff. Tacitus' pedigree suggests minimal concerns with the ability to hit the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 1/4 miles and his racing record shows he is on a roll in putting pieces together. With a win in two Derby prep races, the Wood at Aqueduct and the Tampa Bay Derby in Florida, he demonstrates a lot of upside to watch for while breezing at the track.

Plus Que Parfait


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Trainer Brendan Walsh will be saddling his first Kentucky Derby runner when sending out Plus Que Parfait on the first Saturday in May. The chestnut ridgling awarded his conditioner with this opportunity by earning his first stakes victory in the U.A.E. Derby (G2) at Medyan in Dubai. Plus Que Parfait picked up 100 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby in that Middle Eastern venture and added it to the four points he garnered last November as a two-year-old when finishing second by a neck in the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes (G2) under the Twin Spires at Churchill Downs. By Point of Entry, who racked up five Grade 1 victories and nearly $2.5 million in earnings on the turf, Plus Que Parfait is campaigned by the Dubai-based Imperial Racing LLC.

Cutting Humor


BREEDER
Dell Hancock & Bernie Sams
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Dark Bay
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
Apr 07, 2016


RACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE


1st
Sunland Park Derby
Sunland Park
III
1 1/8 Miles


7th
Southwest Stakes
Oaklawn Park
III
1 1/16 Miles




Haikal


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Shadwell Stable homebred Haikal will be trainer Kiaran McLaughlin's ninth runner in the Kentucky Derby (G1) when lining up on the first Saturday in May. The bay colt will also be making his first start outside of New York's Aqueduct, where he has spent his 5-3-1-1 career thus far. At the Big A, Haikal broke his maiden by a neck in his second try and took the Jimmy Winkfield Stakes by that same margin one race later. Following a length victory in the Gotham Stakes (G3) in early March, the son of Grade 1 scorer Daaher came running late from well back in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) to be third on the wire. Haikal is out of the unraced Distorted Humor mare Sablah, making him a half-brother to Grade 1-winning sprinter Takaful.

Omaha Beach


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
The last major Kentucky Derby prep of the season was won by Omaha Beach. Worth 100 points for the winner, Omaha Beach would cross the wire in a muddy affair, worth noting if rain should arrive on Derby day. The prep leading up to the Arkansas Derby is the Rebel Stakes, which Omaha Beach also won in Arkansas. The bay son of hot sire War Front is owned by longtime Thoroughbred racing entity Fox Hill Farms and trained by Richard Mandella.

Code of Honor


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
William S. Farish homebred Code of Honor has ping-ponged between talented and mediocre for trainer Shug McGaughey, who claimed his first Kentucky Derby win in 2013 with Orb. Code of Honor broke his maiden at Saratoga and ran second in the Champagne Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park in his two juvenile starts, but was a lackluster fourth in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park to open his sophomore campaign in January. Remaining at that South Florida venue, the chestnut son of multiple Group 1 winner Noble Mission pulled away to a nice win in the Fountain of Youth Stakes (G2) before finishing a well-beaten third in the Florida Derby (G1) last out. Code of Honor receives distance and turf influence from his sire while his dam, Reunited, was a Grade 3 winner sprinting on the main track.

Win Win Win


OWNER
Live Oak Plantation
TRAINER
Michael J. Trombetta
BREEDER
Live Oak Stud
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Dark Bay
BIRTHPLACE
Florida
FOAL DATE
Mar 20, 2016

RACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE

DATE
2nd
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes
Keeneland
II
1 1/8 Miles
Apr 6, 2019
3rd
Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby
Tampa Bay Downs
II
1 1/16 Miles

Mar 9, 2019


Master Fencer (JPN)


OWNER
Katsumi Yoshizawa
TRAINER
Tsunoda K
BREEDER
Katsumi Yoshizawa
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Chestnut
BIRTHPLACE
JPN
FOAL DATE
Feb 21, 2016



Japan's Master Fencer Accepts Invitation to Compete in Kentucky Derby 145.

RACE HISTORY
FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE


2nd
Toyota Blue Grass Stakes
Keeneland
II
  1 1/8 Miles


3rd
South Tampa Bay Derby
Tampa Bay Downs
II
1 1/16 Miles





Gamer Winner


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Game Winner is a bay colt by Candy Ride out of the A.P. Indy mare Indyan Giving. He remains undefeated in three lifetime starts, as of Oct 1, 2018, which includes stakes wins in the Del Mar Futurity and the American Pharoah Stakes. Trained by Bob Baffert and currently ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, the West Coast based Thoroughbred has strong potential entering the Breeders' Cup Juvenile.

Roadster


Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Speedway Stable LLC's Roadster catapulted into Kentucky Derby contention with a nice half-length victory over stablemate and champion Game Winner in the Santa Anita Derby (G1) for trainer Bob Baffert. Owned by Speedway Stable LLC, the gray son of 2009 Florida Derby (G1) hero Quality Road enters the Run for the Roses boasting a two-for-two mark on the year and 4-3-0-1 career line. His only loss to date came as a third behind Game Winner in last September's Del Mar Futurity (G1), but the Kentucky-bred has been unbeatable since stretching out past that seven-furlong trip. Roadster is out of the stakes-winning Ghost Dancing and is a half-brother to Grade 1-scoring and track record-setting gelding Ascend.


Long Range Toddy
Kentucky Derby Horse Profile
Long Range Toddy is by accomplished dirt runner Take Charge Indy. Trained by Steve Asmussen, he has settled in a nice circuit between Remington Park and Oaklawn Park. With wins in the Clever Trevor and Springboard Mile Stakes, the latter of whic his a Road to the Kentucky Derby prep-race, he further advanced into the Smarty Jones Stakes and showing gradual improvement. He may be a rising star among his other barn mates and worth a watch along the Kentucky Derby trail.

Spin Off


TRAINER
Todd A. Pletcher 
BREEDER
Wertheimer et Frere
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Chestnut
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
Feb 18, 2016


RACE HISTORY

FINISH
RACE
                GRADE
DISTANCE


2nd
Louisiana Derby
Fair Grounds
     II
1 1/8 Miles




Country House

Mar 23, 2019


TRAINER
William I. Mott
BREEDER
J. V. Shields Jr.
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Chestnut
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
May 08, 2016


RACE HISTORY

FINISH
RACE

GRADE
DISTANCE
DATE
3rd
Arkansas Derby
Oaklawn Park
I
1 1/8 Miles
Apr 13, 2019
4th
Louisiana Derby Stakes
Fair Grounds
II
1 1/8 Miles
Mar 23, 2019
2nd
II
1 1/16 Miles


Alternate

Bodeexpress


OWNER
Top Racing, LLC, Global Thoroughbred and GDS Racing Stable
TRAINER
Gustavo Delgado
BREEDER
Martha Jane Mulholland
SEX
Colt
COLOR
Bay
BIRTHPLACE
Kentucky
FOAL DATE
Apr 23, 2016


RACE HISTORY

FINISH
RACE
GRADE
DISTANCE
DATE
2nd
Florida Derby
Gulfstream Park
I
1 1/8 Miles






Dirt
Mar 30, 2019