The annual Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday 1 May this year to conclude the two-week long Kentucky Derby Festival.
Dubbed ‘The Run of the Roses’, the race lasts around two minutes and features some of the best three-year-old Thoroughbreds in the United States.
Along with The Preakness and Belmont Stakes, the Kentucky Derby makes up the Triple Crown. It is widely considered to be the top Grade 1 race in the country outside of the Breeders’ Cup races.
The most recent Triple Crown winner was Bob Baffert’s Justify back in 2018 and was only the second since 1988 (the other being American Pharoah in 2015).
This year’s event will be the 147th Kentucky Derby, dating all the way back to 1875 which was won by Aristides.
The Favorites
Life is Good had been the initial favorite for this year’s race but will no longer run according to the latest reports.
Instead, Concert Tour has been made the new 4/1 favorite with TwinSpires.com finding the best odds. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert’s horse has won all three previous races it has been involved in, two of them by some distance.
Joel Rosario is expected to continue his role as the jockey at May’s Derby and can expect stiff competition from Essential Quality, whom the bookmakers have as the 5/1 second favorite.
Brad H Cox’s horse debuted back in September last year and has won all four races it has been entered in, including a 4-length victory at Oaklawn Park last month. The horse has been the pre-race favorite in three of the four events. Odds could change on 3 April when the horse competes in its final event before Kentucky at the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland.
Triple Crown
The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown on the horse racing calendar, with Preakness Stakes set for Sunday 16 May this year at the Pimlico Racecourse in Baltimore, Maryland. The Belmont Stakes is the final leg, scheduled for Sunday 6 June 2021 at Belmont Park in New York.
Long Shots?
Looking down at the list of horses entered for this year’s famous event at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Spielberg sticks out at a price of 50/1.
The SF Racing LLC horse may have only won one of seven of its races in its career but looked strong in finishing runner-up at Oaklawn Park in February and cannot be overlooked at such a price. Punters may prefer getting a good price in the each way market for this horse.
Likewise, Rock Your World could be worth an each way bet this year, currently 75/1 to win the event. John Sadler’s talented colt is somewhat unknown in the United States but has shown great speed on the turf, whilst looking like he may be better suited to these turf races.
The horse is two for two in its career, first winning a 12-horse race at Santa Anita back in January and following that up at the end of last month at the same venue. Don’t be surprised if the odds drop between now and 1 May.
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