Jon Stettin’s Blog

Two key Kentucky Derby points races will get a lot of attention on Saturday. The Fountain of Youth will be run at Gulfstream Park, and The Southwest will be run at Oaklawn Park. Both races figure to have an impact on the Kentucky Derby leaderboard, and both offer alternatives to the likely heavy favorites. Last week we were fortunate enough to peg Mishriff as a potential up-setter to the two big favorites in The Saudi Cup, Charlatan and Knicks Go, so we will see if we can do it again on Saturday. At Gulfstream [...]

Anytime you get Grade 1 type horses to race over a track they are not familiar with, in a land they are unfamiliar with, it makes for an interesting horserace. Interesting races often give us value-laden betting opportunities. If that is the case with The Saudi Cup, this year remains to be seen. After all, you have two very strong co-favorites in Knicks Go and Charlatan. It doesn’t exactly hurt their chances in that they are trained by Brad Cox and Bob Baffert, respectively. It may prove to be futile to try and get [...]

While there is still time for a Derby horse to exit a maiden special weight or allowance/conditions race, most eyes are on the point or prep races. There are two preps this weekend and both have Derby hopefuls. A few have caught my eye that are still under the radar at this point. I think they can win on Saturday or at least run well enough to out themselves on the Derby trail. I’ll start out west, at Santa Anita. The Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis has two well regarded runner from Bob Baffert [...]