Since other sports have been brought up here, I wanted to see if anyone else is into the horses and who they like for the Derby. California Chrome is the obvious choice, but I never bet favorites. I'm not totally decided but will probably go with either Tapiture or Ride On Curlin. Will decide most likely on Friday.
Was going to make a thread on this myself. California Chrome looks stronger than most favorites have recently, but I'm still not sold. 3 horses I have my eyes on are Danza, Hoppertunity, and Candy Boy as the long shot possibility. Candy Boy ran a great Robert Lewis a few months ago. He absolutely shit the bed in the Santa Anita though, so nobody really knows what to expect. He was a hot pick going into that race. He has Gary Stevens riding so I think he can definitely turn it around. Finished in the money in 5 of his 7 starts. Bleacher Report is projecting him to open at 25-1, he's worth a play there. Hoppertunity never ran as a 2 year old and a bunch of the "experts" keep talking about how no horse has won the Derby without 2 year old races since the 1880s. I'm not buying that. He's trained by Baffert which already makes him an interesting pick, and Baffert said he had him registered for a race as a 2 year old but had to scratch him. He finished second to California Chrome at Santa Anita and looked strong through the finish. He's been having real good training runs this week. Danza rocked the Arkansas Derby, is a Pletcher horse and is also having great training runs. Don't know much about him but I'm intrigued for some reason. Only has 4 starts but won half of them. Intense Holiday is getting most of the buzz among the Pletcher horses but 2 wins in 8 starts doesnt impress me much. Ride on Curlin also worth a look. Hoppertunity-Candy Boy-Danza. That's how I'm going.
I love talking horses. Great to see someone else here does. Hoppertunity is training great and looks fabulous. I like Candy Ride horses. I like your selections and that would be a great payout. All I know about Danza is he beat Bayern in the Ark Derby. I have a small piece of a sibling of his, he's out of Offlee Wild, and was rooting for him to make it. I worry about Tapiture getting the distance but he showed me a tremendous amount of heart. I like him better if it rains. Ride On Curlin also shows heart. He's a grinder and might like the extra distance. Whoever may main pick is will be a price. Will also be boxing Stevens and Smith no matter what.
