141st Kentucky Derby

Weather is supposed to be perfect. This year's group of 3-year-olds is said to be the best in many years; the five lowest-priced horses on the morning line for this year's Derby are 13-for-13 so far this year.

There's great value in a lot of places. Carpe Diem is 4-for-5 lifetime and has never raced at odds higher than 5-2; he's 8-1 in the morning line. Materiality (12-to-1) is 3-for-3 lifetime. Mubtaahij (20-1) has won twice at a mile and three-sixteenths. International Star (20-1) is 3-for-3 this year, all in graded stakes.

American Pharaoh is the likely favorite but starts from post 18.

Good luck to everyone. I'll be watching from the jai alai fronton.

1 Ocho Ocho Ocho (Trujillo), 50-1
2 Carpe Diem (Velazquez), 8-1
3 Materiality (Castellano), 12-1
4 Tencendur (Franco), 30-1
5 Danzig Moon (Leparoux), 30-1
6 Mubtaahij (Soumillon), 20-1
7 El Kabeir (Borel), 30-1
8 Dortmund (Garcia), 3-1
9 Bolo (Bejarano), 30-1
10 Firing Line (Stevens), 12-1
11 Stanford (Geroux), 30-1
12 International Star (Mena), 20-1
13 Itsaknockout (Saez), 30-1
14 Keen Ice (Desormeaux), 50-1
15 Frosted (Rosario), 15-1
16 War Story (Talamo), 50-1
17 Mr. Z (Vazquez), 50-1
18 American Pharaoh (Espinoza), 5-2
19 Upstart (Ortiz), 15-1
20 Far Right (Smith), 30-1

 

Carpe Diem was our stupid senior slogan in high school. I'll probably include that horse in any bets.

 

I'm going. Never been. Can't wait.

 

You'll have a blast, Dick. The post parade for the Derby is one of the things in sports that lives up to all the hype and then some.

 

And Far Right starts from the....

 

If Ocho Ocho Ocho doesn't finish eighth I'm going to be very disappointed.

 

Yeah. I've been to Indy 20 times and I still feel that way at the start, so this should be amazing.

 

Coincidence? I think not.

 

Too bad he can't finish 24th.

 

I got $100 on Carpe Diem back in March during future wagering when he was at 10-1. He's the most complete horse I've seen on the Derby trail, but I worry about being in the second gate. Dortmund will be the odds-on favorite by post time just because he's a great horse with a great post draw. I'm just not sold on American Pharoah, he's fast but don't know if he can do it for a mile and a quarter.

Enjoy, Dick. I couldn't bring myself to drop $300 on tickets this year. Maybe if Carpe Diem wins I'll go next year.

 

I think ours were $400. But it was a year ago. Have to do it once, at least.