Friday, May 5, 2017

Kentucky Oaks Today, Derby Tomorrow

It was raining early this morning at Churchill Downs, and the main track surface was given a "sloppy" rating, while the turf track is listed as "good."  The weather forecasters say there will be periods of both rain and sun throughout today.   The Kentucky Oaks, the female version of the Derby, is scheduled to leave the starting gate at 6:12 EST this afternoon.  There is a full field of 15 fillies, who will each carry 121 pounds, over the main track for 1 and 1/8 miles.  The purse for this year's Oaks is $1 million...  I'll be listing post position, filly, morning line betting odds, sire, and coat color. All of the Oaks entries were born in Kentucky.
1     Ever So Clever         20 to 1         Medaglia d'Oro    dark bay
2     Lockdown                20 to 1          First Defence       dark bay
3     Mopotism                 20 to 1         Uncle Mo             bay
4     Paradise Woods         5 to 2          Union Rags          bay
5     Jordan's Henny         30 to 1         Henny Hughes     gray/roan
6     Vexatious                  20 to 1         Giant's Causeway   bay
7     Farrell                        5 to 1          Malibu Moon        bay
8     Sailor's Valentine      30 to 1         Mizzen Mast         gray/roan
9     Wicked Lick             30 to 1         Maclean's Music   chestnut
10   Miss Sky Warrior       9 to 2         First Samurai         dark bay
11   Tequilita                   20 to 1          Union Rags            bay
12   Daddy's Lil Darling   20 to 1        Scat Daddy            dark bay
13   Abel Tasman               5 to 1         Quality Road         bay
14   Salty                            6 to 1          Quality Road        bay
15   Summer Luck            30 to 1         Lookin At Lucky   bay

There have been no scratches in the Kentucky Derby field for tomorrow.  Girvin, who has a quarter crack in one hoof, will be wearing glued-on shoes.  Following are the 20 starters, with their jockeys and trainers listed...
1     Looking at Lee         Corey Lanerie                   Steven Asmussen
2     Thunder Snow          Christophe Soumillon      Saeed bin Suroor  
3     Fast and Accurate    Channing Hill                  Michael Maker 
4     Untrapped                 Ricardo Santana, Jr        Steven Asmussen 
5     Always Dreaming     John Velazquez                Todd Pletcher
6     State of Honor          Jose Lezcano                    Mark Casse
7     Girvin                        Mike Smith                       Joe Sharp
8     Hence                        Florent Geroux                 Steven Asmussen
9     Irap                           Mario Guttierrez               Doug O'Neill
10   Gunnevera                Javier Castellano              Antonio Sano
11   Battle of Midway      Flavio Prat                       Jerry Hollendorfer
12   Sonneteer                  Kent Desormeaux            Keith Desormeaux
13   J Boys Echo              Luis Saez                          Dale Romans
14   Classic Empire         Julien Leparoux              Mark Casse
15   McCraken                Brian J Hernandez, Jr     Ian Wilkes
16   Tapwrit                     Jose Ortiz                          Todd Pletcher
17   Irish War Cry          Rajiv Maragh                    Graham Motion
18   Gormley                    Victor Espinoza                 John Shirreffs
19   Practical Joke          Joel Rosario                       Chad Brown
20   Patch                         Tyler Gaffalione                Todd Pletcher

May all the races be cleanly run (figuratively, since there will be mud everywhere), and may no horses or jockeys have any injuries......

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