Kentucky Derby 2018 is shaping up to be one of the unpredictable Derbys in recent years because the media and horse racing experts can’s seem to agree on which horses have the best chance to win the Derby. This news is also impacting Kentucky Derby online betting favorites wagering lines and odds.
Last week, Justify ended up in the top five after an impressive race. This week, Magnum Moon is back in the top five, after previously being ranked 18th, thanks to his performance in the G2 Rebel Stakes over the weekend, giving him three wins in his three starts.
“Crazy year,” said the Southern California News Group’s Art Wilson. “Two of the top Kentucky Derby candidates — Justify and Magnum Moon — didn’t race at age 2. Are we looking at another Apollo?”
Apollo was the first and only horse to win the Kentucky Derby without racing in his second year, a feat accomplished in 1882.
Magnum Moon’s vault up the ranking is justified by the fact that he defeated other Kentucky Derby hopefuls, while Justify, who was in the top five last week, dropped to number six.
“Magnum Moon beat a good field in the Rebel and he ran like a horse who will carry on at longer distances,” said Churchill Downs’ Joe Kristufek. “Justify is super talented, but he still needs to pass the class test.”
Latest Kentucky Derby 2018 Media Poll Rankings
Bolt d’Oro retained his position at the top of the rankings and was followed by McKinzie, which was ranked second last week
Good Magic dropped from third to fourth this week, while Audible also dropped one spot to number five.
Kentucky Derby Media Poll (Week 4)
Horse (1st-place votes) Points Previous
1. Bolt d’Oro (13) 539 1
2. McKinzie (9) 529 2
3. Magnum Moon (1) 443 18
4. Good Magic 441 3
5. Audible (1) 437 4
6. Justify (2) 433 T5
7. Solomini (1) 374 T5
8. Enticed 333 7
9. Promises Fulfilled 322 8
10. Catholic Boy (1) 294 9
The Kentucky Derby is now seven weeks away. There hasn’t been a horse that has blown away the field during the Derby qualification. This means Kentucky Derby 2018 odds for online betting will likely continue to change until we get to the race. There were some betting odds updates with another new name moving up the list. This was thanks to an impressive performance over the weekend.
Updated 144th Kentucky Derby Online Betting Odds
Bolt d’Oro remains the favorite to win Kentucky Derby 2018 odds after his win at the San Felipe Stakes last weekend. The win was Bolt d’Oro’s fourth in fifth starts, and unless he loses another race before the Kentucky Derby, he should be expected to drop from the top spot.
Justify’s win at Santa Anita Park’s fifth race last week gave him a big boost, especially after the way he dominated the race. Even though he didn’t race this past weekend and hasn’t faced a lot of the top contenders in the Derby, he moved from fourth to second this week.
McKinzie finished second to Bolt d’Oro at the San Felipe Stakes last week. And despite the controversial ending to the race, he remains one of the top contenders to win the Derby. Even though he is considered one of the best horses in the field this year, he was leapfrogged by an idle Justify in terms of Kentucky Derby online betting.
Good Magic was once the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, but his third place finish at the Fountain of Youth Stakes dropped him to fifth place last week. This week, he moved up one spot, but don’t be surprised to see him drop again after Magnum Moon’s impressive performance. His next race is the Blue Grass Stakes next month.
His win at the Rebel Stakes this past weekend moved him to the top contenders list, and if he performs well at the Arkansas Derby next month, expect his odds to win the Kentucky Derby to get better.
When it comes to the Kentucky Derby, the horses rightfully get most of the attention. These breeds are the ones doing all the hard work. However, the people who help get the horses ready for the races also deserve some recognition. Without further ado here is a list of the best trainers in Kentucky Derby history listed below.
Fitzsimmons is considered one of the greatest trainers in Kentucky Derby history. His career spanned 70 years, in which he won the Kentucky Derby three times with Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), Johnstown (1939). Gallant Fox and Omaha went on to win the Triple Crown
Thompson, who was a trainer in the same era as Fitzsimmons, had more success at the Kentucky Derby, winning the race four times with Behave Yourself (1921), Bubbling Over (1926), Burgoo King (1932) and Brokers Tip (1933). His horses also had two of his horses finish first and second at the Derby on two occasions.
Top 3 Kentucky Derby Trainers in History
As we continue to rank trainers here is the top three list of the best trainers in Kentucky Derby history going into the 144th Kentucky Derby.
Lukas is another Hall of Famer that had a lot of success at the Kentucky Derby. Lukas has won the Kentucky Derby with Winning Colors (1988), Thunder Gulch (1995), Grindstone (1996) and Charismatic (1999).
The Hall of Famer won six Kentucky Derby’s as a trainer with Lawrin (1938), Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944), Citation (1948), Ponder (1949) and Hill Gail (1952), giving him the most Derby wins by a trainer. However, he was semi-retired when he won the last three Derby’s, with his son, Jimmy Jones acting as the primary trainer.
Baffert won the Kentucky Derby four times with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), and American Pharoah (2015). American Pharoah ended up winning the Triple Crown, ending a 37-year drought.
All four Baffert horses went on to win the Preakness Stakes. However, the other three failed to win the Belmont Stakes. With the Hall of Famer training two of the contenders for the 2018 Kentucky Derby, don’t be surprised to see his total number of wins increase this year.
Kentucky Derby favorite Bolt d’Oro was considered the favorite to win the race a few months ago, but he slid from the top spot in a previous Kentucky Derby Media poll after losing to Good Magic at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
In his first race since defeating Bolt d’ Oro, Good Magic disappointed, finishing second to Promises Fulfilled at the Fountain of Youth race.
Last week, Good Magic maintained his position as the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, but this week, Bolt d’ Oro reclaimed the top spot in the Derby Media Poll.
Bolt d’Oro was able to reclaim the top spot in the poll thanks to his controversial win over McKinzie at the San Felipe Stakes this weekend.
Updated Kentucky Derby Media Poll Rankings
The two horses went toe to toe down the stretch for a photo finish, and after McKinzie looked like he had won the race by a head, officials reviewed the finish and awarded Bolt d’Oro with the win.
After the race, officials explained why they decided to award the race to Bolt d’Oro instead of McKinzie.
Betting Odds for McKinzie and Bolt d’Oro
“McKinzie came out under a left-handed whip and shifted … Bolt D’Oro out, off his path and cost him a better placing,” said Darrel McHargue, chief steward for the California Horse Racing Board. The vote of the three stewards was unanimous.
Thanks to the controversial decision, Bolt d’Oro is now once again considered the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, while McKinzie dropped to second place.
Since Good Magic isn’t expected to race until the Blue Grass Stakes in April, he will stay at third for now.
Audible, the winner of the last three races he has been entered in, finished fourth in the rankings, but is expected to move up the rankings if he wins the Florida Derby at the end of March.
Justify, another thoroughbred trained by Bob Baffert, was fifth in the polls after an impressive showing this weekend.
With eight weeks left until the Kentucky Derby, expect the ranking to change a few more times before the Derby.
Another horse joined the list of Kentucky Derby favorites this week after Bob Baffert trained horse Justify blew away the competition at the Santa Anita Park’s fifth race, a one-mile allowance going around two turns. Justify has now become one of the new favorites for Kentucky Derby online betting.
Justify, who entered the race at 1-9, ran the opening half mile in 45.10 seconds, and finished up the race in 1:35.73 over a muddy track.
TVG analyst Simon Bray said Baffert “couldn’t have scripted” the race any better, but added that due to lack of any challenge, the “next prep is going to be very important for him. Baffert likes his horses to have hard races. That’s how he trains.”
Updated Kentucky Derby Betting Favorites
With a little over a month away from the 2018 Kentucky Derby it is time to focus on the latest Kentucky Derby favorites. Bray wasn’t the only analyst to heap praise on Justify. His colleague Caton Bredar said “When you see a horse as lightly raced as he is — granted, he was supposed to win — but it was the way he did it, the way he settled…with the stretch out there. I’m a believer.”
With Justify’s impressive showing, he not only became a favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, he drew comparison to some legendary horses.
“I hate to compare him to other horses right now, but doesn’t he remind you of an Easy Goer way back in the day?” jockey Mike Smith said. “Just a big ol’ red horse with a big, powerful stride. The distance didn’t seem to bother him. I know that was just a mile but he could have galloped out another quarter of a mile if he had to. There’s a lot of potential there.”
Despite the hype and praise he received over the weekend, Justify still has to prove he can dominate when facing the best competition. If he performs well at the Santa Anita Derby, which is a G1 race, he will be one of the horses to look out for at the Kentucky Derby.
Will this year’s Kentucky Derby winner win the Triple Crown or will it be a one and done winner again. Today we look at potential Triple Crown winners and 2018 Kentucky Derby betting favorites leading up to the Triple Crown.
Before the Derby begins, horse racing fans wonder if the horse that wins the Derby is capable of winning the Triple Crown. After three horses won the Triple Crown previously, there was a 37 year drought before American Pharoah won in 2015.
Since there isn’t much pressure to win the Triple Crown as there was previously. This leaves many wondering if we see another Triple Crown winner.
In the past, there have been some horses that stood out above the rest, and in most cases, they have come close to completing the task, and in American Pharoah’s case, won it all.
Kentucky Derby 2018 Online Betting Favorites
This year, there isn’t any one horse that stands out because there seems to be a new favorite every week leading up to the race. For a more thorough look at 2018 Kentucky Derby betting favorites check out this previous article.
Despite the fact that there is no clear cut favorite, there are still a few horses capable of getting it done.
Bolt d’Oro has been the favorite to win the Derby since last year, and despite a setback at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, he is still the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby.
Bolt d’Oro has won four of the five races he has been entered, finishing third in the fifth.
Good Magic has dropped to the fifth favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, but he is graded by industry experts as the best horse in the Derby. However, he has won only one of the four races he has been entered in, with the lone win coming over Bolt d’Oro at the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
Audible has been charging up the standings after winning his last three races. He currently has the second best odds of winning the Derby, but hasn’t faces top competition yet.
Like Audible, Justify hasn’t faced top competition, but he has the fourth best odds to win the Derby thanks to a very impressive performance over the weekend.
Of all these horses, Bolt d’Oro has been the most consistent, and will likely win the Derby. However, he likely won’t be able to complete the Triple Crown because one of the other horses listed will likely beat him in either the Preakness or Belmont Stakes.
Happy St. Patricks Day fellow drinkers and horse racing enthusiasts! Today we have decided to take a look back at the history of the Kentucky Derby and list some of the slowest winning times at Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. In addition to listing the slowest winning times at Kentucky Derby we will be listing picks and predictions on how ot bet on the 2018 Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky Derby is only a few weeks away, so we decided to take a look at the past races to come up with a list of the slowest horses to win the biggest horse racing event of the year. You can bet on the slowest winning time or the fastest at the Bet Online Racebook for the 2018 Kentucky Derby.
5 Slowest Winning Times at Kentucky Derby History
5. Exterminator (1918)
We start this list with the 5th horse, Exterminator, who was a last minute addition to the Kentucky Derby in 1918 after Willis Sharpe Kilmer’s two-year-old champion colt was unable to run in the race due to an injury. Exterminator entered the race with 30-1 odds, but surprised everyone by winning the race in 2:10.80, which was one of the slowest times at the time.
4. Manuel (1899)
The Louisville bred horse finished the Kentucky Derby in 2:12.00, but at the time, he went against only four races in the Derby. He was unable to compete in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes because he suffered an injury on the Churchill Downs track.
3. Typhoon II (1897)
Another champion from the early days of horse racing pulled off the upset at the Kentucky Derby and finished the race in 2:12.50 and makes it third on our list of the slowest winning times at Kentucky Derby. However, his racing career was cut short as he declined soon after his three-year-old season was over. His owner actually wanted to dispose of him but his trainer gave him to a friend instead.
Top 2 Slowest Horses in Kentucky Derby History
2. Pink Star (1907)
This was a long shot that got hot at the right time and won the Derby in 2:12.60, thanks to the muddy conditions on the track. The horse retired the next year due to some lackluster performances and his bad temperament. At the time of the Derby, he had the slowest time in history, but the record was broken a year later.
1. Stone Street (1908)
He hadn’t won a major race before the Kentucky Derby, but surprised a lot of people by winning the race despite 24-1 odds. Stone Street over came very muddy conditions to win the race in 2:15.20, which is the slowest time ever posted by a winner at the Kentucky Derby.
The Kentucky Derby has been run for almost a century and a half and during that time there have been a lot of fast horses to race at Churchill Downs. With the 144th Kentucky Derby just around the corner we decided to take a look at some of the fastest times in Kentucky Derby history. If you want to know how to pick a winner in this Kentucky Derby then it’s important to do your research of past winners.
Kentucky Derby Finishes
5. Decidedly (1962)
Decidedly was the 1962 Kentucky Derby winner and has one of the fastest Kentucky Derby times in history, winning the race in 2:00.40. The colt, which was sired by 1954 Derby winner Determine, went on to race until he was five-years-old, winning 11 races, placing in nine, and showing in four.
4. Spend a Buck (1985)
Spend a Buck easily won the Derby in 1985, finishing the race in 2:00 1/5. He was expected to compete in the remaining two legs of the Triple Crown, but his owner decided to skip the Preakness and Belmont Stakes so he could participate in the Jersey Derby. He went on to win the Horse of the Year and Champion 3-year-old Colt in 1985.
Top 3 Kentucky Derby Fastest Times
3. Northern Dancer (1964)
Northern Dance had the third fastest Derby finish at two minutes flat. He also went on to win the Preakness Stakes that year, but failed to win the Triple Crown after finishing third in the Belmont Stakes. He would retire shortly after the Belmont and die in 1990 at 29.
2. Monarchos (2001)
One of the biggest Kentucky Derby surprise winners also had one of the best times in the race’s history. Monarchos rallied from 13th position to win the race in less than two minutes, finishing with an official time of 1:59.97.
He was unable to complete the Triple Crown because he wasn’t entered in the Preakness Stakes, and finished third in the Belmont Stakes.
1. Secretariat (1973)
If you watch movies then you have probably heard of this horse. Secretariat is considered the greatest thoroughbred thanks to the3 way he dominated his competition during his Triple Crown campaign. Secretariat still holds the fastest time at the Kentucky Derby at 1:59 2/5, and the record is expected to stand for a while as no other horse has come close to threatening it in 45 years.
When it comes to Kentucky Derby online betting for 2018 the odds are always changing based on feeder races going on all over the world and that is why it is difficult to stay atop of Kentucky Derby 2018 betting odds and line movements. Last week, Good Magic had the best odds to win the 2018 Kentucky Derby, thanks to his win over Bolt d’Oro in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
This week however Good Magic now has the second best odds to win the biggest horse racing event of the year after finishing third at the Fountain of Youth race over the weekend. Promises Fulfilled, the horse that won the Fountain of Youth race, has also seen his odds to win the race improve.
Current Kentucky Derby 2018 Betting Odds
Here is an updated list of the current favorites to win the Kentucky Derby.
Bolt d’Oro (4-1 Betting Odds)
Even though he hasn’t been in a race since he lost in the Breeders’ Cup, Bolt d’Oro became the favorite again after Good Magic’s performance at the Fountain of Youth race. He will have a chance to improve his odds to win the Derby this weekend at the San Felipe Stakes.
Good Magic (6-1 Betting Odds)
Good Magic’s finish at the Fountain of Youth race dropped him into second place, and he might be stuck there for a while if Bolt d’Oro wins the San Felipe Stakes this weekend because he isn’t scheduled to run again until the Blue Grass Stakes in April.
Mask (8-1 Betting Odds)
Mask has been flying under the radar because he has been in only two races so far, but he has won them both. The two-year old has been dealing with an injury, but he is expected to get back on the qualification trail and prove why he is considered one of the favorites in the Derby.
McKinzie (12-1 Betting Odds)
McKinzie has won all three races he has been entered in and will get a chance to go up against some of the top contenders at this year’s Kentucky Derby when he runs in the san Felipe Stakes this weekend. If he defeats a group that includes Bolt d’Oro, he will be the favorite to win the 2018 Derby.
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Top Kentucky Derby Online Racebooks
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