The final major prep race for this year's Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 1 at Churchill Downs will take place this Saturday at Oaklawn Park with the running of the $1 million Grade 1 Arkansas Derby.
The limited field has six contenders listed as entered. Leading the way is Concert Tour as a 3-5 favorite on the morning line breaking out of the No. 5 gate. Trained by Bob Baffert and ridden by jockey Joel Rosario, this Kentucky-bred colt is already one of the favorites to win at Churchill less than a month from now.
Coming off a victory in the Grade 2 Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn last month, the son of Street Sense is undefeated in three starts as a three-year old. A victory in the Arkansas Derby would close the gap in the Kentucky Derby futures odds. Essential Quality is currently listed as a +375 favorite. Concert Tour is next on that list at +450 betting odds.
Rounding out the Top 5 Kentucky Derby contenders on BetOnline's futures board are Rock Your World at +700 with Hot Rod Charlie and Highly Motivated at +1200.
The second favorite to win this year's Arkansas Derby is Caddo River at 7-2 morning line odds. This three-year old Kentucky-bred colt is trained by Brian Cox. He will break from the No. 2 post with jockey Florent Geroux on board.
Of the six colts entered in Saturday's featured event at Oaklawn, five of the contenders recently faced one another in the Rebel Stakes. The lone addition is Last Samurai at 30-1 odds. He placed fifth his last time out in the Grade 3 Southwest Stakes at Oaklawn in late February.
As part of my weekly horse racing coverage for the popular betting site ScoresandStats.com, the following link is to my full Arkansas Derby preview and picks.
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