HorseCenter: San Vicente, Jerome top picks and analysis

This week on HorseCenter, your hosts Brian Zipse and Matt Shifman handicap and offer top picks for a pair of stakes races for Kentucky Derby hopefuls on Saturday. Santa Anita Park has the Grade 2, seven-furlong San Vicente, and the one-mile Jerome will be run at Aqueduct.

Muth, the second-place finisher in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and arguably the top Derby contender in California, will be a heavy favorite in the field of six in the San Vicente. Trained by Bob Baffert, the son of Good Magic also is the winner of the American Pharoah (G1).

Drum Roll Please is the morning-line favorite for the Jerome, which is an official Kentucky Derby points race. That means all five of the horses in the field will get qualifying points if they are eligible. Brad Cox trains the favorite, who picked up three points when he finished third in the Remsen (G2) last year.

Both races have small but interesting fields where it is hard to eliminate any horse as either a win contender or one to use in exotic wagers. Matt and Brian agree on their top pick in the San Vicente but are on different horses in the Jerome.

Good luck this weekend, and thanks for watching the show.