Triple Crown Contenders

Unintentional byproduct of this invention they call the Internet: A horse bettor can sit on the couch in his basement apartment in Wyoming, wearing yesterday’s boxers and last week’s wife-beater, and place a wager on the sixth race at the Nad Al Sheba racetrack in Dubai.

If that bet goes awry, he can make the get-even comeback wager on the eighth race at the Hipodrome in San Isidro, Argentina. All this without ever leaving the couch. Just a few simple clicks, Thanks, Al Gore!

Horse racing is big business. Huge business. And everyone wants to know now who will win the Derby. Technically, it’s called the Kentucky Derby, but horse racing aficionados and intelligent sports fans know it simply as “the Derby”.

The race has been called the fastest two minutes in sports. Some may think it’s silly to get so hyped up for something that is over quicker than sex. Those people likely missed Giacomo, a 50/1 long shot, who came out of nowhere to win the Derby last year. Or Smarty Jones the year before. Or any other startling victory on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs. Besides, how many other days can people wear huge, funny looking hats in public and have it be considered stylish?

With less than four weeks until the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby, the favorites are beginning to take shape. Brother Derek blew away the field at the Santa Anita Derby in California on April 8. The 2/5 favorite from the West Coast only ran against four other horses, but that was because some trainers didn’t want to waste their time running against this superstar thoroughbred. Brother Derek has been running through the competition like Vince Chase runs through women on HBO’s “Entourage.”

Jockey Alex Solis never even raised his whip down the stretch at Santa Anita, one of the notable Derby prep races. He didn’t have to. Derek is that fast. Expect Brother Derek to remain the favorite when the Kentucky Derby odds are updated on race day. He’s already the pre-race favorite at 3/1 in the Bodog Sportsbook to capture the first leg of the Triple Crown.

“He just relaxed real well and that’s all he needed to do to get the mile and an eighth,” trainer Dave Hendricks said after the Santa Anita win. “I don’t think distance now is any question. We just have to keep doing what he’s been doing and crank him up for the first Saturday in May.”

One of the big questions horses must answer during Derby Prep Month is distance. The Kentucky Derby is 1¼ miles, but much of the earlier races in the year are somewhat shorter. So it becomes an issue for trainers, horses and bettors.

Just ask Jazil and Keyed Entry, who finished second and third, respectively, to Bob and John in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct in New York on April 8. Jazil came from way off the pace and closed hard and fast to finish a close second. In fact, Jazil actually passed Bob and John about 10 yards beyond the wire. People took notice. Jazil’s late burst immediately catapulted the colt into big potential status for the Derby, provided the horse has enough graded earnings to qualify.

Keyed Entry, the favorite at the Wood and once a lock to make the Derby on May 6, disappointed and is now considered on the bubble to even make a run for the roses.

The Wood Tests Mettle

The Wood Memorial is often looked at as a foreshadowing of the Kentucky Derby much the way the Golden Globes forecast the Academy Awards. Three of the past six Derby winners came from the field at the Wood: Fusaichi Pegasus, the 2000 winner, and Monarchos and Funny Cide, second-place finishers at Aqueduct in 2001 and 2003, respectively.

Bob and John won this year’s Wood, a Grade I stakes race (that’s like flying first class), but labored down the stretch to do it. Big-time trainer Bob Baffert locked up another horse for the Kentucky Derby, so Bob and John has to be considered a top contender.

Right up there in the who-will-win discussions is Barbaro. Undefeated in five starts, Barbaro won a tight stretch duel in the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park on April 1. But here’s a little interesting nugget, the type of nugget that bettors enjoy knowing before they commit their heart and money to a horse: Not since 1956 has a horse won the Kentucky Derby with a layoff of five weeks or more.

Just keep that in mind when you log on to make your fortune. Of course, the picture could change this weekend when Lawyer Ron runs in the Arkansas Derby (Grade II) at Oaklawn and First Samurai runs in the Bluegrass. Lawyer Ron also won the Southwest and the Rebel, both considered top races.

PHOTO: In 2000, betting favorite Fusaichi Pegasus captured the Kentucky Derby after winning the Wood Memorial (AI Wire photo).

Mark LaMonica is a metro New York-based sports writer. His next Triple Crown Watch will appear on April 27 in BodogNation.

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