My Kentucky Derby race preview and free trifecta pick has been reposted courtesy of ScoresandStats.com
Saturday’s
2022 Kentucky Derby “Best Bet” Trifecta Play
The post
positions and opening morning line odds for Saturday’s running of the 148th
Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs have been set. This year’s field of the best
three-year old Thoroughbred race horses has been expanded out to 22 entries as
the ultimate test of your horse betting handicapping skills.
The entire live
card at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 7 is a horse bettor’s dream. Post time
for the first of 12 races on the card is 10:30 a.m. (ET). There are seven major
graded events with more than $8 million in total prize money up for grabs. The
total prize money for this year’s ‘Run for the Roses’ alone is set at $3
million.
This race is
the Crown Jewel of the Triple Crown series followed by the Preakness Stakes at
Pimlico Race Course on May 21 and the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park on June 11.
Focusing all of
my attention on this Saturday’s main event with a scheduled post time of 6:57
p.m. (ET), I have narrowed down the Kentucky Derby’s massive 22-horse field to
best of the bunch. The following three colts would be my “best bet” picks to
finish in the money over this 1 ¼ miles run on the dirt track at Churchill.
Saturday,
May 7
2022 Kentucky
Derby – Churchill Downs (Post Time 6:57 p.m.)
Win: Epicenter
The
second-favorite on the morning line at 7-2 odds will break from the No. 3 post
with Joel Rosario as his jockey. Zandon gets the nod as the 3-1 favorite to win
but Epicenter still appears to be the class of this field. Trained by Steve
Asmussen, the son of Not This Time moved to the top of the list with victories
at Fair Grounds in the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby as Grade 2 events.
Through his
last five events, Epicenter has posted four wins with a second-place run in the
Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds in his three-year old debut.
Place: White
Abarrio
My second
choice for Saturday won this year’s Grade 1 Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park in
impressive fashion a month ago. He will break from the No. 15 post in this race
with jockey Tyler Gaffalione leading the way. Sired by Race Day, this three-year
old Kentucky-bred colt has been opened at 10-1 odds on the morning line to add
some solid value to trainer Saffie Joseph Jr’s best chance to win a Kentucky
Derby title.
White Abarrio
also won this year’s Grade 3 Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream in his three-year
old debut on Feb. 5. He has posted four victories in five starts during his
early racing career.
Show: Zandon
Starting from
the very favorable No. 10 post with jockey Flavien Prat, the favorite to win
should get a solid start out of the gate. Coming off the victory in last
month’s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes at
Keeneland, my only concern in picking Zandon as my top choice is a third-place
finish behind Epicenter and Smile Happy in the Risen Star. Trainer Chad Brown
has the son of Upstart trending in the right direction in his recent performances
on the track but it is hard to tell how much of this is media type verse
substance.
Zandon closed
out his juvenile campaign with a second-place finish at Aqueduct in the Grade 2
Remsen Stakes. He has finished in the money in all four of his previous races.
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