Tag: Classier

Defunded owns only this maiden special weight win in five starts. But the gelding is the 3/5 favorite to win Sunday's Grade 3 Los Alamitos Derby. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

As Usual, Los Alamitos Derby Discussion Begins With Baffert

Someone in this small, but scrappy, Los Alamitos Derby field is going to earn what has heretofore been a difficult achievement for them: a stakes victory.  And as usual in this race, Bob Baffert has the upper hand. Baffert sends out both 3/5 favorite Defunded and 5/2 second-favorite Classier into […]

Outadore comes into Friday's Springboard Mile off his third-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint. (Image: Coady Photography)

This Weekend’s Stakes Feature Derby Preps, Return of Ex-Derby Prodigy

The pre-Christmas lull before the graded stakes storm doesn’t mean there aren’t any graded stakes in this weekend’s racing slate. Nor does it mean this weekend misses good storylines or top-shelf horses. Take the Los Alamitos Futurity and the Mr. Prospector, your two graded stakes this weekend. Curious about potential […]

Life Is Good won his debut by 9 1/2 lengths Sunday afternoon. He made enough of an impression to open at 12/1 on William Hill Nevada's Kentucky Derby Futures Board. (Image: Ernie Belmonte)

Life Is Good Certainly Proves it on William Hill Derby Futures Board

It took exactly 75-½ seconds for Life Is Good to live up to his name, throw his hoof into the Kentucky Derby futures picture, and become the latest horse rocketing up William Hill Nevada’s Kentucky Derby Futures Board. After the Into Mischief progeny destroyed an over-classed quartet of maidens by […]

Jockey Luis Saez and Essential Quality were exactly that at last week's Breeders' Cup Juvenile. Essential Quality is the prohibitive 10/1 favorite on William Hill's Kentucky Derby Futures Board. (Image: Michael Conroy/AP)

Essential Quality Surges to Top of William Hill Derby Futures Board

The fluidity of William Hill’s Kentucky Derby future odds six months from the 2021 Derby clearly illustrated itself before last Friday’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Note, the key word here: “before.” Because, before undefeated 4/5 Juvenile favorite Jackie’s Warrior entered the Keeneland starting gate, he was no longer the darling of […]

While Jackie's Warrior is the clear favorite to win the 2021 Kentucky Derby, Essential Quality is a viable second favorite at 20/1. (Image: Coady Photography)

William Hill Makes Jackie’s Warrior 2021 Kentucky Derby Futures Favorite

William Hill Nevada opened the first domestic futures pool for the 2021 Kentucky Derby, installing Jackie’s Warrior as the top choice among the 115 2-year-olds listed on its futures board. The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile favorite, Jackie’s Warrior opened at 15/1. He’s currently 14/1 at Bovada, which opened the Steve Asmussen-trainee […]