Kentucky Derby 2012: Who to watch in first leg of Triple Crown
The 138th running of the takes place this Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.
A full field of 20 thoroughbred horses have been entered in the mile and a quarter race.
Much like the Daytona 500 kicking off each season, the Kentucky Derby is considered the 'Super Bowl' of thoroughbred racing.
The Derby is the first of three races in horse racing's 'Triple Crown,' meant to determine the top three year-old horse in any given year. It's followed by the two weeks later in Baltimore, then the in New York on June 9.
The last time a thoroughbred won all three races in the same year was 1978, when to the Triple Crown.
This year's running of the Derby features several horses that won major prep races in 2011 and earlier this year.
has been tabbed as the early favorite to win Saturday's race. The horse, which won the Arkansas Derby on April 14, is trained by two-time Derby winner Bob Baffert. Bodemeister will begin the 20-horse race from the No. 6 position in the Churchill Downs starting gate. Baffert told he's happy that his horse won't start up against the track's inside rail.
鈥淚 was relieved that he didn鈥檛 get the one hole. I just didn鈥檛 want to be stuck on the rail, like I was with Lookin at Lucky and had that horrible feeling. I think all the good horses drew really well for this race. It鈥檚 going to be very competitive," Baffert said.
is another proven winner, having captured the Fountain of Youth Stakes in late February in Florida. Union Rags will start the race from the No. 4 spot. Trainer Michael Matz, another former Derby winner, also expressed concern about starting near the rail, according to .
鈥淲e鈥檙e going to have him run out of there a little bit, but that鈥檚 not the worst thing in the world. My original thought was that I wasn鈥檛 crazy about it, but where everybody is, I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 so bad.鈥�
comes to Kentucky Derby No. 138 with two wins, including the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes on April 14. Trainer Dale Romans, a Louisville native, hopes his horse can repeat some Derby history by starting in between Bodemeister and Union Rags.
鈥淚t鈥檚 obviously a good spot when the five-hole is one of the winningest post positions in Derby history (eight wins, tied for second-most since 1930)," Romans said . "I don鈥檛 think the post draw was quite as important to our horse compared to some of the other speed horses, or when we had Shackleford last year. It鈥檚 good to be there in post five.鈥�
Two other horses of note, and , will start next to each other from the No. 15 and 14 post positions, respectively.
The Kentucky Derby will be run shortly after 6 p.m. ET Saturday and will be聽 televised by NBC.
