Best Bet: General Jim should control Pat Day Mile
Saturday’s eighth race at Churchill Downs is the Grade 2 Pat Day Mile for 3-year-olds traveling one mile on the main track. The scheduled post time is 2:46 p.m. EDT.
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No. 9 General Jim (4-1) looked like he might be a player on the Derby trail after a sharp victory in the Swale Stakes at seven panels on Feb. 4. He added blinkers that day and runner-up Super Chow won the Hutcheson Stakes in his next start. The $850k Into Mischief colt was my top choice in the Fountain of Youth but had a cough and was forced to scratch. He finally resurfaces in this spot for Shug McGaughey and his winning rider Luis Saez stays put. He has been in steady training since March 21 and could easily pick up where he left off.
No. 7 Fort Bragg (9-2) set the pace from post 10 and weakened in the stretch in the Florida Derby last time. He wired the field in his maiden win at this distance around two turns, and he might like this one-turn mile.
No. 5 Echo Again (7-2) added lasix and showed the ability to sit and pounce in a solid allowance win as the favorite in a flat mile affair at Oaklawn on March 30. He loses lasix but is a contender under his new rider Florent Geroux if he duplicates his last.
No. 12 Gun Pilot (5-1) was part of the exacta in all four starts on fast dirt, and was up the track in the Rebel in the slop. This is a good distance for Steve Asmussen’s Gun Runner colt and he will probably stalk the pace under his new rider Tyler Gaffalione.
No. 8 Bourbon Bash (12-1) should really appreciate this shorter distance. He ran well in multiple dirt sprints and landed the place in a flat mile affair on Feb. 4. He had a midpack finish from post 10 in the Rebel in the slop, and faded to last place from the inside post in the Arkansas Derby. Flavien Prat was aboard for his romping maiden win at Saratoga last summer.
Get Jarrod’s Kentucky Derby day analysis.
Wagers
No. 9 to win
Exacta box 7-9
Trifecta key 9/5-7-8-12
Trifecta 5-7-8-12/9/5-7-8-12
Recent Best Bet Winners
Tuesday – Prove Worthy ($9.90)
Wednesday – Warrant ($8.62)
Thursday – Bango/Miles Ahead exacta ($26.40), trifecta ($86.84)