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Bet on the 2014 Kentucky Derby – Top Contenders Odds

by —May 1, 2014 in All Sports, Horse Racing

When: Saturday, May 3rd 2014 at 6:24pm ET
Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky
Watch: Live on NBC

The 2014 Kentucky Derby is on Saturday and this will be the 140th running of the horse race. The post position draw was today and I wanted to wait until that was finalized before posting my preview. This year we have a commanding favorite taking a lot of action.

Before I get into my predictions let’s take a look at the twenty horses that are scheduled to race in the Kentucky Derby. If one of the horses below drops out of the race Pablo Del Monte would enter the race, as the only horse entered on the “also-eligible” list.

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Who are the Top Contenders in the 2014 Kentucky Derby?

California Chrome is the class of the Derby and a legitimate Triple Crown contender. The colt has won four races in a row including a 3-0 record this year at Santa Anita Park with wins in the Gr. 1 Santa Anita Derby, Gr. 2 San Felipe Stakes and California Cup Derby.

Vicar’s In Trouble was on my shortlist before the post position draw, but he drew PP #1 and the last time a horse won from PP #1 or PP #2 was back in 1986. The colt has two wins this year in the Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby and the Gr. 3 LeComte Stakes.

I won’t be betting on this colt, but Samraat is starting next to the favorite and is highly tipped. In his career he is 5-1 with wins in the Gr. 3 Withers Stakes and Gr. 3 Gotham Stakes. He finished in 2nd place in the Gr. 1 Wood Memorial Stakes in his last time out.

The Gr. 3 wins aren’t overly impressive. Samraat is likely to open up with a fast pace and be at or near the top, but with the distance I expect him to have limited kick down the stretch. Wicked Strong was the colt to beat Samraat and he’s also a contender.

Wicked Strong is on the outside, which isn’t a bad thing due to the crowded start with 20 horses. Maragh will be able to set-up this colt on the outside near the middle to back of the pack early on, which is ideal, as this horse is a late runner that’ll suit this distance.

Hoppertunity has improved each race this year. This colt only started racing this year and has been five races this year already. He finished 4th in the Gr. 2 Risen Star Stakes, 1st in the Gr. 2 Rebel Stakes and 2nd in the Gr. 1 Santa Anita Derby last time out.

This colt still has room for improvement and he looked great finishing 2nd behind California Chrome. He’ll likely be near the top from the beginning of this race, as Smith won’t want to get stuck in traffic out of the gates. I’m excited to see how Hoppertunity finishes.

One horse that is somewhat falling under the radar is Wildcat Red in PP #10. This colt has raced seven times and won four times while finishing in 2nd place the other three times. His last time out he ran great and finished 2nd in the Gr. 1 Florida Derby.

In two of the last three years the horse in PP #16 has won the Kentucky Derby. Intense Holiday drew PP #16. This colt is experienced with eight races including six graded races. This colt had a rough 2013, but has improved a lot this year.

Intense Holiday finished 1st in the Gr. 2 Risen Star Stakes and 2nd in the Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby. He’ll need more improvement to have a shot at contending and I just don’t see it happening. Don’t buy into the post position too much and look at the quality of the horse.

2014 Kentucky Derby Predictions

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Hopefully you jumped on this colt earlier, but if you’re just betting on the Derby this week the odds are quite poor. I knew after the San Felipe Stakes that this horse would be a serious favorite. At these odds it’s tough to bet on too many long shot contenders.

The other outright winner bet I’m making is on Hoppertunity who I can’t pass up. It was between this colt or Wildcat Red, but at the end of the day I’ve been more impressed by Hoppertunity. I think the level of competition he has faced has been tougher.

I always like to bet on the exotic wagers, as the potential payday is always enticing. This year I’m definitely going with this combo. I also like the idea of betting on horses #5 / #10, #11, #20, #6 / #10, #11, #20, #6, #15 in a boxed trifecta although it’s not finalized yet.

ScottThis article was written by Scott

Scott is one of the original degenerates working for MobileSportsBetting.com. Although he's most successful betting on NFL football and international soccer, he's also active in UFC and NHL hockey betting.


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