Frank Angst: Warming up to Gormley to win Kentucky Derby

Also eligible are Royal Mo and the Pletcher-trained Master Plan, who would need defections by early Friday morning to get into the 1 1/4-mile race. Todd Pletcher, who’s won four consecutive Eclipse Awards as outstanding Trainer of the Year, trains him.

“The record is what it is”, he said.

The next level is placing bets on how more than one horse will finish. Just because they’re not going in all the time, you don’t stop shooting. Not exceptionally fast, but you could make the case that he would improve from that effort.

Trainer Chad Brown, who conditions 20-1 shot Practice Joke, said he’s as in the dark as everyone else to predict what would happen, or how the race would change in the mud. Only two horses in the history of the race have finished under two minutes.

Always Dreaming is your 143rd Kentucky Derby champion. “I think we came into the derby with a much better horse than we have in the past”, jockey John Velasquez said. “It’s only a matter of time before he wins another one”. Under the old system, a 2-year-old could win a shorter sprint race and earn enough money to qualify for the Derby.

Always Dreaming, a commanding victor of the Florida Derby in his previous start, picked up the winner’s share of more than $1.2 million, adding to his $650,000 bankroll. Those horses also did not run their best in the Blue Grass Stakes, finishing third and second.

Keep an eye out for Cinderella story, Patch, a one-eyed horse. Pletcher’s horses have won just about all the major Derby preps, some many times over.

Weather aside, there are a lot of other factors that can contribute to a bettor’s opinion on a horse’s chances of winning.

According to Forbes News, the Kentucky Derby starting gate positions and the horses’ updated odds for today’s race are set and they are listed below. Classic Empire who was initially the favorite is now down to 3rd place with Irish War Cry (both have odds of 6-1). Motion hopes to take her to Royal Ascot in England next month.

As the race draws nearer, more analysis and probability notes will be added to this 2017 Kentucky Derby Live. Perhaps this is because no fillies have won a race since 1990.

Yet when asked for his analysis of the handicapping sheets, Casse said, “I guess if you said, ‘Hey, Mark, if you got to pick one horse and remove him from the race, ‘ it would be Irish War Cry”. Abel Tasman was sat dead last through the early portion of the race as favorite Paradise Woods jumped to the lead.

Among other interesting entries are Gunnevera (16-1), who made an impressive closing kick in the Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream and will have jockey Javier Castellano aboard.

Calumet Farm will have three entrants in the Kentucky Derby this year: Hence, Patch and Sonneteer. Also entered are Idolo Porteno, third in the $350,000 Razorback Handicap (G3) in 2016 at Oaklawn; Carve, victor of the $100,000 Fifth Season Stakes in 2015 at Oaklawn; and Oaklawn winners Wabel and Rocket Time.