Kentucky Derby Blog

The field has been set for the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby this Saturday from Churchill Down’s. The approximate Kentucky Derby post time for the race is of 6:24 pm EST on May 1st and 3.24 pm PST. You can watch it on NBC.

Lookin’ at Lucky was indeed lucky and drew post number 1. The Kentucky Derby betting online is expected to break all previous records. The pool total so far is $23,499,229.54.

Check out the current 2010 Kentucky Derby odds!

2010 Kentucky Derby is only 5 days away.  NBC will broadcast the activities, which begin on May 1st 2010 at 5:00 EDT. The post positions to be announced several days beforehand on Wednesday, April 28, 2010 and the post time is set at approx. 6:15 PM. EST.

If you can’t wait until May 1 for a race, the Kentucky Oaks race will take place on April 30, 2010 at Churchill Downs – one day before the historic race begins.  This is a great race with a great purpose, as the traditions have morphed into more of a Charity event.  The official color of the Kentucky Oaks race  is Pink and the charity partner is the Susan G Komen for the Cure organization.

SIDNEY’S CANDY is trained by John Sadler and will be mounted by Joe Talamo in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. SIDNEY’S CANDY is coming off a hard fought 1st place finish with a win over Interactif or Caracortado in the grade 1 2010 Santa Anita Derby. Expect to see Interactif or Caracortado again as both of these colts will be looking to earn a better finishing position over SIDNEY’S CANDY in the 2010 Kentucky Derby.

Sired by Candy Ride, SIDNEY’S CANDY is listed at 7/1 to win the Kentucky Derby 2010 and is posted with 60/1 odds to take the 2010 Triple Crown.

Noble’s Promise is a classic pace presser/stalker; the furthest behind the leaders that this colt has been in any of his career wins is just three lengths. His race in the Arkansas Derby saw him eight lengths back after a half but that was primarily due to a little bit of a rough trip leaving the gate.

Despite the fact that his running lines always show him up near the lead early on, Noble’s Promise doesn’t display a tremendously quick burst from the gate and has generally found himself near the lead due to a slow early pace. Given the prospects of several speed horses in the Derby field, this colt looks like a horse that is going to find himself in the middle of the pack instead of a length or two off of the lead.

How he got to the Derby: Noble’s Promise put together an excellent juvenile campaign that saw him win a listed stake at Presque Isle Downs, the Grade 1 Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland, followed up by a third place finish in the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Santa Anita and a second place finish to Lookin At Lucky in the Grade 1 Cash Call Futurity at Hollywood Park.

Lookin At Lucky, trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert, came into the Derby prep season as the No. 1 contender off his 2-year-old championship season. The colt then won the Rebel Stakes in his lone race on dirt — the same surface as the Derby is run on and finished third behind Sidney’s Candy and Setsuko in the Santa Anita Derby.

Lookin At Lucky Past Performance

The following is career earnings in graded stakes races for contenders for the Kentucky Derby as of 4/21/2010. The field for the Kentucky Derby is limited to 20 starters with preference given to horses with the highest career earnings in graded stakes races.

At the quarter pole, Odysseus appeared to have no chance to win Saturday’s $300,000 Tampa Bay Derby. Even at the wire, it looked like his frantic final surge had fallen short of catching Schoolyard Dreams. But the photo finish camera indicated otherwise with Odysseus eeking out a nose victory.

Odysseus, who won an allowance race by 15 lengths here last month, completed the mile and one-sixteenth in 1:44.31 seconds under jockey Rajiv Maragh and paid $6.

Odysseus, a son of Malibu Moon owned by Satish Sanan’s Padua Stable and trained by Thomas Albertrani, prompted the pace of the 3-2 favorite Super Saver for six furlongs before dropping several lengths behind the leaders leaving the quarter pole. But once settling into the stretch under jockey Rajiv Maragh, Odysseus reasserted himself, angled inward to split the leaders inside the sixteenth pole and got his nose down first in the final stride.

Sidney’s Candy is bound for the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on May 1 after scoring an impressive win in Saturday’s $750,000 Santa Anita Derby. Sidney’s Candy paid $9.60, $5.40 and $3.00. Setsuko returned $10.00 and $4.80, and Lookin At Lucky paid $2.10 to show.

Trained by John Sadler, Sidney’s Candy is owned by the Sid and Jenny Craig Trust. The chestnut colt posted his fourth career win in six starts. Saturday’s $450,000 puts his lifetime earnings at $673,560.

The following is career earnings in graded stakes races for contenders for the Kentucky Derby as of 3/22/2010.

Ice Box, a 20-1 long shot, rallied from last entering the final turn to win the $750,000 Florida Derby by a nose over Pleasant Prince, another long shot, at Gulfstream Park.

Trained by two-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Nick Zito and ridden by Jose Lezcano, Ice Box earned $450,000 for the victory and will likely make his next start in the May 1 Kentucky Derby. Ice Box covered the 1 1-8th mile in 1:49.19.

Ice Box, who came into the Florida Derby off a fifth-place finish Feb. 20 in the Fountain of Youth, returned $43.40, $20.40 and $9.60. Pleasant Prince, a 25-1 long shot, paid $26.40 and $11.60 while Rule returned $3.40.

Ice Box was purchased by owned Robert LaPenta at auction as a yearling for $125,000. The colt has now won three of seven career starts.

Watch the race replay!