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A full field of 20 3-year-old Thoroughbreds was entered Wednesday for Saturday’s 133rd running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) and the owners and trainer of horse that is expected to be a longshot will have the first pick later today when post positions for the race are selected.
Storm in May, runner-up in the Arkansas Derby (GII) for trainer Bill Kaplan, will have the first pick Wednesday evening when the Kentucky Derby post selection process is conducted before a live audience at Louisville’s 4th Street Live! entertainment and retail complex. A blind draw for post position selection order was conducted after the close of entries for the Derby, and that order will be used as the post selection process is televised live by ESPN2 from 5-6 p.m. (EDT) on SportsCenter at the Kentucky Derby.Street Sense, America’s reigning 2-year-old champion and winner of the Tampa Bay Derby (GIII), drew the sixth selection slot, while a post position for unbeaten Curlin, the winner of the Arkansas Derby, will not be chosen until the 16th selection in the field of 20. There were no surprises when entries for the 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby were made at Churchill Downs on Wednesday. Twenty-two horses were entered for Saturday’s Derby including a record tying five entrants trained by three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher. The overflow field required Churchill Downs to exclude two entrants from the race, which has a maximum field of 20 horses. Preference is given to entries based on their earnings in graded stakes races and the two horses excluded from Derby 133 were Bob and Cathy Zollars’ Reporting for Duty and Hobeau Farm’s Delightful Kiss. Other horses that are considered to be major contenders who will get early picks in this evening’s post selection process include Hard Spun (third selection), winner of the Lane’s End Stakes (GII), and Florida Derby (GI) winner Scat Daddy (8th). Major names that will not have the opportunity to determine their spot in the starting gate until late in the process include Nobiz Like Shobiz (14th), winner of the Wood Memorial (GI); Any Given Saturday, a narrow loser to Street Sense in the Tampa Bay Derby; Great Hunter (19th), winner of the Robert Lewis (GII) at Santa Anita; and Toyota Blue Grass (GI) winner Dominican, who has the 20th and final slot in the selection order. The 20 entrants for the 133rd “Run for the Roses” and the entire Kentucky Derby post selection order (with trainer/jockey): 1. Storm in May (Bill Kaplan/Juan Leyva) 2. Teuflesberg (Jamie Sanders/Stewart Elliott) 3. Hard Spun (J. Larry Jones/Mario Pino) 4. Liquidity (Doug O’Neill/David Flores) 5. Bwana Bull (Jerry Hollendorfer/Javier Castellano) 6. Street Sense (Carl Nafzger/Calvin Borel) 7. Cowtown Cat (Todd Pletcher/Fernando Jara) 8. Scat Daddy (Pletcher/Edgar Prado) 9. Imawildandcrazyguy (Kaplan/Mark Guidry) 10. Zanjero (Steve Asmussen/Shaun Bridgmohan) 11. Tiago (John Shirreffs/Mike Smith) 12. Circular Quay (Pletcher/John Velazquez) 13. Sam P. (Pletcher/Ramon Dominguez) 14.Nobiz Like Shobiz (Barclay Tagg/Cornelio Velasquez) 15. Stormello (Bill Currin/Kent Desormeaux) 16. Curlin (Asmussen/Robby Albarado) 17. Sedgefield (Darrin Miller/Julien Leparoux) 18. Any Given Saturday (Pletcher/Garrett Gomez) 19. Great Hunter (O’Neill/Corey Nakatani) 20. Dominican (Miller/Rafael Bejarano)
Source www.kentuckyderby.com |
