Kentucky Derby Top Contenders
by Bodog Racebook | May 2 2011
Dialed In, Mucho Macho Man and Nehro are among the top contenders for the 137th Kentucky Derby. Held on Saturday, May 7, at Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby is a 1 ¼ mile test for 3-year-olds and the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Dialed In, expected to be the lukewarm Kentucky Derby favorite, has been in training at Palm Meadows Training Center in Florida off his Gr. 1 Florida Derby victory on April 3. The 3-year-old son of Mineshaft captured that title at Gulfstream Park by a head, going 1 1/8 miles in 1:50.07. Trained by Nick Zito for Robert LaPenta, Dialed In gained valuable experience on March 6 racing against older horses in his third start of the year – an allowance optional claimer – in which he finished second. And he captured his first graded stakes title – the Gr. 3 Holy Bull Stakes – on Jan. 30 to begin his 2011 campaign. Also working in his favor is his experience at Churchill Downs: Dialed In broke his maiden over the same track on which the Kentucky Derby will be run on Nov. 12. Currently second on the list of graded stakes earners with $840,000, Dialed in has a 4-3-1-0 career record. Julien Leparoux is expected to retain the mount for the Kentucky Derby.
A 3-year-old son of Macho Uno, Mucho Macho Man is another top contender for the Kentucky Derby. Currently 13th on the graded stakes earnings list with $370,000, Mucho Macho Man is a highly experienced racehorse with a single trip to the winner's circle this year. His 2011 campaign got off to a rocky start with a troubled trip in the Gr. 3 Holy Bull Stakes Jan. 30 and a fourth-place finish. He then bounced back on Feb. 19 with a stellar 1 ½ length win in the Gr. 2 Risen Star Stakes at Fair Grounds Racecourse. He next finished a surprising third in the Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby on March 26 – but post-race, it was discovered that the resilient Kathy Ritvo trainee had lost a shoe during the race, which surely contributed to his loss. Mucho Macho Man had his second training session over the track at Churchill Downs on April 30, going 5 furlongs in 1:00.40. A career 8-2-3-2, Mucho Macho Man will have Rajiv Maragh aboard for the Kentucky Derby.
Also a recent shipper to Churchill Downs is Nehro, a 3-year-old son of Mineshaft who endured the slopping conditions beleaguering Louisville, Ky., to post a 5-furlong breeze in 1:02.80 on April 25. Currently 11th on the graded stakes earning list with $400,000, Nehro started out slowly on the Kentucky Derby trail with three attempts to break his maiden – his first attempt at the end of 2010. He does not have a graded stakes win to his credit yet but came heartbreakingly close in his most recent outing, the Gr. 1 Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park on April 16 – the extra 1/8 mile in the Kentucky Derby may be to his benefit as he was closing fast on the eventual winner but ran out of track. He was also runner-up in his graded stakes debut, the Gr. 2 Louisiana Derby on March 26 at Fair Grounds with another fast-closing finish. Trained by Steve Asmussen for Zayat Stables, Nehro will be ridden by Corey Nakatani in the Kentucky Derby.
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