Friesan Fire is the favorite, but who wants to bet on chalk? Where's the fun in that?
Lets look a little deeper.
Papa Clem at 13-1 is the horse everyone is overlooking. He had a blazing workout this week, and he runs well on a sloppy track. We may have a bit of rain here in Kentucky today. He finished second to Freisan in Louisana, but this is a different race on a different track. One of the top Jocks- Rafael Bejarano is on board, and we like that.
The Florida horse is Dunkirk, who ran second in the Florida Derby. However, he has had a five week layoff, and he lacks the real credentials to compete here.
I Want Revenge (which is not the slogan of Jeff Swartz's new campaign for Judge) is the class of the California horses. He won the Wood Memorial after a bad start, so his ability to come from behind is proven. However, he may be a bit of a stalker, but he has legitimate speed.
So, if you want to throw out the favorites, here is our tri-fecta:
Papa Clem; I Want Revenge; and now you can take your pick- you can throw in Freisan, or Dunkirk, or a Bob Baffert entry- Pioneer of the Nile.
Enjoy the race; have fun, and if we bump into Judge Ward and Eddie O'Donnell, who are rumoured to be out here, at the finish line, we'll let you know.
UPDATE- I Want Revenge has just been scratched. So we're going to add Baffert's horse- Pioneer of the Nile to our Trifecta.