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If you want to be the one at your Kentucky Derby party (virtual or not) who wants to brag about having $10 on the winner of the race, the choice is easy: Essential Quality.
If you tend to shy away from betting on the heavy favorite (like myself) and are looking for a pony to include in some combinations (perfecta or trifecta), then there are plenty of good choices.
Keep in mind that in a 20-horse field, anything can and will happen.
Undefeated And Impressive: Essential Quality has never lost a race. After going 2 for 2 in his rookie campaign, the colt is 5 for 5 as a 3-year-old. In fact, he has won most of his races by a healthy margin. The exception would be his last race, the Bluegrass Stakes, which he won by only a neck but in a blazing-fast time. He may have won by more if he had not drifted to the outside while coming down the stretch.
Kentucky Derby 2021 Horses to Watch, Odds and Analysis
By Stephen Harris, bettingexpert.com racing editor
On 4/30/21 at 9:23 AM EDT
The 147
th running of the Grade One Kentucky Derby takes center-stage at Churchill Downs, as 20 horses attempt to etch their name into sporting folklore.
Raced on dirt over a distance of one mile and two furlongs, the Derby is the first leg of the U.S. Triple Crown which also features the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. An elite list of 13 horses have won all three races, latterly Justify in 2018.
Dubbed The Run for the Roses, a result of the blanket of roses draped over the winner, the contest is open to three-year-old colts and fillies and boasts a prize fund of $3 million.
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Brooklyn Strong at Churchill Downs
Mark Schwartz s Brooklyn Strong made his first appearance on the track at Churchill Downs Thursday morning, galloping a mile and a half over sloppy conditions caused by heavy overnight rains.
Steady rain was forecast all morning, but other than a few sprinkles during training hours everyone got their morning activity done before the precipitation began at 9:15.
BOURBONIC, DYNAMIC ONE, KNOWN AGENDA, SAINTHOOD – Trainer Todd Pletcher had weather concerns Thursday morning with a sizable rain storm projected to reappear at Churchill Downs in the 7 a.m. hour. So rather than wait for the 7:30-7:45 Derby/Oaks special training period as he had been doing in previous days with his Derby foursome, he got them going early.