Tag: Epicenter

Epicenter pulled away from his rivals in last month's Grade 2 Risen Star. He is the 7/5 morning line favorite for Fair Grounds' signature race: the Grade 2 Louisiana Derby. (Image: Hodges Photography/Amanda Hodges Weir)

Louisiana Derby Sets Up as the Epicenter Kentucky Derby Prep

- 3 min read

Until the last few years, the Louisiana Derby has never been known as a catapult to the Kentucky Derby winner’s circle. That is, unless you were connected to Black Gold (1924), Grindstone (1996) and Funny Cide (2003). Until 2019, those were the only three Louisiana Derby alums wearing roses the […]

This daylight victory in last Saturday's San Felipe Stakes is one big reason why Forbidden Kingdom is the 5/1 favorite in Pool 4 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Forbidden Kingdom Runs Into Favored Status in KDFW Pool 4

- 3 min read

Fresh off the heels of his dominant San Felipe Stakes win, Forbidden Kingdom opened as the 5/1 favorite in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager (KDFW) Pool 4. That pool opens Friday and runs through Sunday. It runs concurrently with the lone Kentucky Oaks Future Wager (KOFW) pool. There, Churchill Downs oddsmaker […]

Epicenter's success in winning December's Gun Runner here and finishing second in January's Lecomte at Fair Grounds should serve him well in Saturday's Grade 2 Risen Star. (Image: Hodges Photography/Lou Hodges Jr.)

Risen Star Brings Rising Stars, Rising Stakes to Kentucky Derby Trail

- 4 min read

WIth a nod to Winston Churchill, Saturday’s Grade 2 Risen Star signals both the beginning of the end and the end of the Kentucky Derby trail’s beginning. The prelims are over and we’re now at the beginning of the win-and-you’re-in stretch of the Derby trail. That’s because the 1 1/8-mile […]

Tiz the Bomb is the 10/1 second individual choice behind stablemate Smile Happy in the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2, which closed Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography/Keeneland)

Both the Field, Smile Happy, Keep Their Favorite Status in KDFW Pool 2

- 2 min read

Just like it did in November’s Pool 1, the Kentucky Derby Future Wager Pool 2 finished with All Other 3-Year-Olds as the favorite, and Smile Happy closing as the individual favorite. While Smile Happy closed at the same 8/1 odds he finished at in Pool 1, All Other 3-Year-Olds wound […]

Pappacap leads the Kentucky Derby points list with 12. He comes into Saturday's Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes at Fair Grounds as the 8/5 morning-line favorite. (Image: Benoit Photo)

Derby Points Leader Pappacap Finds Epicenter in the Lecomte Stakes

- 3 min read

The Grade 3 Lecomte Stakes gives you current Kentucky Derby points leader Pappacap. It gives you one of the most exciting 3-year-olds in the country, Epicenter. And it gives you recent alumni Triple Crown success. The 1 1/16-mile Lecomte also gives you Derby preps for the first time in three […]

Epicenter captured thi Churchill Downs maiden special weight last month. He is the 5/2 favorite to win the inaugural Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds, Sunday. (Image: Coady Photography)

Inaugural Gun Runner Stakes Provides Epicenter of Week’s Derby Preps

- 4 min read

There’s a certain symmetry, a certain karmic presence in Steve Asmussen sending out Epicenter as the 5/2 favorite for the inaugural running of the 1 1/16-mile Gun Runner Stakes at Fair Grounds. Whether Epicenter can follow in the hoofprints of Gun Runner – one of Asmussen’s best horses – remains […]