Chasing The Derby: Kentucky Derby draw: Archarcharch gets dreaded #1, favorite Dialed In #8

Kentucky Derby (gr. I)
Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Archarcharch	Jon Court	Jinks Fires	10-1
2	Brilliant Speed	Joel Rosario	Tom Albertrani	30-1
3	Twice the Appeal	Calvin Borel	Jeff Bonde	20-1
4	Stay Thirsty	Ramon Dominguez	Todd Pletcher	20-1
5	Decisive Moment	Kerwin Clark	Juan Arias	30-1
6	Comma to the Top	Patrick Valenzuela	Peter Miller	30-1
7	Pants On Fire	Rosie Napravnik	Kelly Breen	20-1
8	Dialed In	Julien Leparoux	Nick Zito	4-1
9	Derby Kitten	Javier Castellano	Mike Maker	30-1
10	Twinspired	Mike Smith	Mike Maker	30-1
11	Master of Hounds	Garrett Gomez	Aidan O'Brien	30-1
12	Santiva	Shaun Bridgmohan	Eddie Kenneally	30-1
13	Mucho Macho Man	Rajiv Maragh	Kathy Ritvo	12-1
14	Shackleford	Jesus Castanon	Dale Romans	12-1
15	Midnight Interlude	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	10-1
16	Animal Kingdom	Robby Albarado	H. Graham Motion	30-1
17	Soldat	Alan Garcia	Kiaran McLaughlin	12-1
18	Uncle Mo	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	9-2
19	Nehro	Corey Nakatani	Steve Asmussen	6-1
20	Watch Me Go	Rafael Bejarano	Kathleen O' Connell	50-1

Summary:

The all-important Derby draw offered the usual mix of restrained and unrestrained reactions from owners and trainers. Comma To The Top’s connections could not hide their relief when they avoided the dreaded #1 position. That fell to serious contender Archarcharch, whose odds were raised to 10-1 from 8-1 based on the misfortune. Dialed In was installed as the 4-1 favorite and will start from position #8. Handicappers will analyze all of the postpositions compared to each horse’s running style, but we’ve learned there is nothing close to certainty at any point in a 20-deep horse race. The complete list of entries, post positions, pps, video, and more can be found on the contender page here// Animal Kingdom’s rider Robby Albarado took a spill before a race at Churchill Wednesday and was rushed to the hospital. His facial injuries will most likely not keep him out of the Derby Saturday// Almost all Derby entries were on the track today. Most attention is centered on Uncle Mo as his appearance and activity are closely scrutinized. Mike Welsch believes he was lighter in weight from last week, and owner Mike Repole is still uncertain of his running status. A team of vets will closely examine Uncle Mo on Thursday and a decision should be announced by Friday// Of the other contenders on the track, Welsch commented Soldat, Archarcharch, Shackleford,, Mucho Macho Man, and Twinspired were on the muscle galloping over the dry track// more…

Kentucky Derby Contenders page with free pps, stats, video here

Articles:

· Dialed In 4-1 favorite for Kentucky Derby (Courier Journal)

· Winners, losers in Kentucky Derby Draw (NBC)

· Dialed In gets post 8; Uncle Mo 18 (DRF)

· Derby Field lacks speed of horses in the past (NY Times)

· Fires admits post 1 makes Archarcharch job more difficult [with video] (DRF)

· Uncle Mo must prove himself again in Kentucky Derby (DRF)

· Mucho Macho Man to start 13^th in Derby (Atlanta Journal Constitution)

· Trainer Graham Motion’s string of bad luck continues (The Baltimore Sun)

· Albarado injured, but still expected to ride in Derby (Brisnet)

· Kentucky Derby Barn Notes 5/4 (Churchill Downs)