By Keith Taylor
Kentucky Today
It only takes two minutes to conclude one of the most exciting moments in sports.
For the 144th time in history, a field of 20 horses will compete in the Kentucky Derby, an event that puts Kentucky in the national spotlight. The yearly “Run for the Roses” is the first leg of horse racing’s Triple Crown. Seattle Slew won the Triple Crown in 1977 and American Pharaoh duplicated the rare feat more than three decades later in 2015.
“There’s always a chance, but it’s so difficult to do,” thoroughbred owner, trainer and breeder Mike Cameron said. “It’s likely not going to happen but it could. It takes a very, very special horse (to win the Triple Crown) and that’s why there have only 12 of them.”
The field is loaded with impressive 3-year-old horses aiming to become the latest to leave the track with a rose garland, which features 400 red roses.
“It is the most prestigious race in the world,” Cameron said. “I wouldn’t call it the best race in the world because it’s only for 3-year-olds. Many of the older horses are much-better horses than the 3-year-olds because 3-year-olds are like college athletes. The older horses are like NBA players.”
Bob Baffert, who missed last year’s running because of a lack of a contender, is back with Justify, the Santa Anita Derby winner, installed as the early favorite. Justify is a 3-1 favorite and will start in post 7. Mike Smith is the jockey for Justify, which is 3-0. In addition to Baffert, another veteran trainer — D. Wayne Lukas — has Bravazo (50-1) in the field.
As usual, Todd Pletcher has more than one horse entered. Pletcher has Magnum Moon (6-1), Audible (8-1) and Noble Indy (30-1) entered in the race.
“The Derby is (hard to win),” Cameron said. “(Trainer) Todd Pletcher has had more starters in the Derby than anyone else, but he’s only won it once. I think (trainers) matter as much as anything other than the horse. The horse matters the most. How good is the horse? Then comes the trainer and then the jockey. The trainer has to know how to get the horse prepped well. He’s got to get a horse right leading up to the Derby.”
In addition to trainers and jockeys, positioning also is a key in the mile-and-a-quarter race.
“It depends on what kind of horses you have,” Cameron said. “Speed horses like to be inside (of the rail) in the 1-2-3-4-5 hole, because they can jump out and get on the inside and out of the first turn, they want to be in the lead, so they can get on the rail and make the shortest distance around (the track). Tactical horses that come off (the rail), aren’t really concerned with (positioning). They don’t want to get hung too far outside. Positioning is important.”
Most of the time, winners of the prestigious race are born in Kentucky. Overall, 109 of the past 143 winners were born in the Bluegrass State, including Triple Crown winner American Pharaoh, which spent most of its early life in Clark County.
Three females have won the race, while 11 past Derby winners were bred by previous winners in the Run for the Roses.
More than 150,000 people will be in attendance at Churchill Downs Saturday and thousands more will watch the event on television.
For one day, all eyes will be on the Bluegrass State and witness a race that has proven to be a timeless event.
Keith Taylor is sports editor for Kentucky Today. Reach him at keith.taylor@kentuckytoday.com or twitter @keithtaylor21.