Orb wins the Kentucky Derby
Orb took all the late money and went off as the race favorite and took home the 139th running of the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby. Sent off at odds of 5/1, Orb (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) sat far behind an extremely hot pace set by Palace Malice who went through an opening half in 45.33 over the sloppy Churchill Downs track. Verrazano (BetPTC.com Top Selection) was up close early on as was Vyjack who both sat in second and third early on. The first move towards Palace Malice was from Oxbow who skimmed the rail to come up and attack the leader. Meanwhile Normandy Invasion took a wide path but stormed to the lead at the top of the lane, and for a minute looked like he might just draw away and win. But Orb, who was as far back as seventeenth at one point, came roaring 6 wide off the turn and kicked it into overdrive for jockey Joel Rosario. Orb proceeded to pull away down the lane, winning off by two and a half impressive lengths in a time of 2:02.89. Long shot Golden Soul got up for second at 34/1 while Revolutionary, the second choice in the race and favorite for most of the betting period, got up for the third spot over Normandy Invasion who ran fourth.
Wise Dan (BetPTC.com Top Selection) was the king of the undercard as he powered away to a convincing four and three quarter length score in the Woodford Turf Classic. The race lost a bit of it’s luster when Point of Entry was scratched due to the heavy rains. Wise Dan sat third early on behind early pacesetter Silver Max and Optimizer who sat second throughout. Wise Dan and Optimizer came past Silver Max, but Wise Dan kept on going and poured it on late with Optimizer running second. The red-hot Delauney (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) added another win to his resume as he scorched a field of sprinters to take the Churchill Downs Stakes. He battled with Trinniberg early on (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) but put that one away and held off 10/1 shot Pass The Dice (BetPTC.com Longshot) to get the win.
Stephanie’s Kitten (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) rallied from last under jockey Julien Leparoux to get the victory in the Churchill Downs Distaff Turf Mile. Aubby K. took home the Humana Distaff as the favorite and long shot Berlino de Tiger scored in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint.
Princess of Sylmar pulls off a shocker in the Kentucky Oaks
Todd Pletcher looked to hold a number of bullets in his holster for the Kentucky Oaks, sending out four talented fillies. But it wasn’t Dreaming of Julia or Unlimited Budget who got the job done, but rather 36/1 bomber Princess of Sylmar who rallied from second to last to get up and score by half a length. Midnight Lucky (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) went out to set the early pace while Beholder and Unlimited Budget (BetPTC.com Top Selection) were both in good stalking position. Beholder went to the lead and looked like she might slip away, but Princess of Sylmar and Mike Smith found their best gear late and reeled in that runner to win by half a length in the end. Beholder was second ahead of a no excuses Unlimited Budget who ran third. Dreaming of Julia got hammered by Rose To Gold at the start and forced her to drop back further than she may normally have.
The Grade 2 American Turf went to favored Noble Tune (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) who came from off the pace for jockey Javier Castellano. Admiral Kitten finished second just ahead of War Dancer (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) who ran third. One of the most impressive performances of the weekend was Take Charge Indy who won a tough edition of the Alysheba Stakes by six emphatic lengths. Take Charge Indy sat in second early on and took command on the far turn and never looked back, pulling away down the lane. Cyber Secret (BetPTC.com Top Selection) finished up in second but was disqualified for causing interference to a number of runners at the five sixteenths pole. That DQ moved Hymn Book up to second with Bourbon Courage (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) in third.
So Many Ways (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection) scored a nice 7/1 win in the Eight Belles Stakes, getting up in the final strides to win, just a half length ahead of Fusaichiswonderful (BetPTC.com Top Selection) who was flying late as well to grab second. Kitten’s Dumplings (BetPTC.com 3rd Selection) and the red-hot Joel Rosario took home the Edgewood Stakes over 45/1 long shot Praia (BetPTC.com Longshot) to head up a $403 exacta. Authenticity won the La Troienne by a hard fought head over On Fire Baby (BetPTC.com 2nd Selection).