The 145th run of the Kentucky Derby, retirement is looking like a possibility for Omaha Beach due to inflammation below the epiglottis, which will prevent him from participating on Saturday May 4 in the stellar match of Churchill Downs.
Due to this circumstance the veteran Mike Smith, remained uncertain due to a fateful circumstance. At this moment he will see the Kentucky Derby through the racetrack monitors.
No doubt that this mostly favored Bo Baffert, as his three alternates will go from being strong opponents to strong contenders and take the big slice of the three million dollars at stake and of course the fame that is given by the Triple Crown.
You can not point to a single competitor as the rival to beat. Why? For the simple reason that of all involved there are five that show credentials that endorse them as winners of the races that gave more points in the preliminary series.
Unlikely, winner of Los Alamitos Futurity; Roadster, winner of Santa Anita Derby; Game Winner, first place in BC Juvenile; Tacitus, conqueror of the Wood Memorial; Maximus Security, who galloped and galloped in the Florida Derby; they are part of the peloton from which the winner should emerge.
The absence of Omaha Beach left the way open for Maximus Security to impose conditions from the start of the race, although it must increase its initial speed, since it will be impossible for it to impose a step against 20 adversaries. Tax, Vekoma, Spinoff and the newly invited Bodexpress, will surely jump in the first positions before taking the first curve.
In that territory is where the skill of the riders must bring afloat the strategy they have planned for the race. Roadster, Game Winner, Tacitus and the same Unlikely, will be placed no further than the eighth position. The changes will begin to take place when taking the final curve and in that moment they must remove their arms the “forgotten” Long Range Toddy; Code Of Honor; Win Win Win; By My Standards and Haikal.
Who will have the stamina to withstand the attacks of the closers? Who will have the most powerful “rush” (closing) in the final 600 meters? Will Baffert impose another record? Will a new coach in the Derby triumph? Soon we will know.