2015 Kentucky Derby--Three For The Show
Back in the 50's, Carl Perkins had a hit called Blue Suede Shoes. The opening of the song started as such: "Well, it's One for the money, Two for the show, Three to get ready".....now if you will permit, or should I say tolerate, allow me to add my own rhyming words...."And that's all you need to know". Yes racing fans, when it comes to the 2015 Kentucky Derby, three IS all you need to know. Three ARE getting ready. And three equals HALF!! Any clue as to what I'm yapping on about?
Horses competing in the 2015 "Run for the Roses" that are trained or owned by three people will take up half the starting gate stalls in Louisville on May 2nd.
Person 1: Trainer Bob Baffert
By holding the top-two aces with Dortmund and American Pharoah, the 62-yr old conditioner has an excellent chance to add a fourth Derby win to his already illustrious resume. Unless one of these monsters draws the dreaded rail post, I'm quite confident the pair will be one-two in the betting. Baffert's other entry is One Lucky Dane.
Person 2: Trainer Todd Pletcher
Just like last year, the Todd Squad will be represented by at least 4 runners on Derby day. The 2015 lineup are: Carpe Diem, Materiality, Itsaknockout and Stanford. Currently sitting in 21st place on the Derby points list, Madefromlucky, could give the 47-year old trainer a fifth starter should there be any defections. And even though we are less than 3 weeks out, that's always a possibility. If Madefromlucky gets lucky and draws in, this would be the third time that Pletcher, who is 1-40 in the Derby, would have 5-starters (2007, 2013).
Person 3: Owner Ahmed Zayat
The 52-year old owner of Zayat Stables will send 3 colts to the Derby bearing his turquoise and gold colors. El Kabeir, Mr. Z and the aforementioned American Pharoah. When it comes to previous Derby horses, Mr. Zayat had some unfortunate circumstances befall his operation three years in a row. In 2010, Eskendereya, considered the heavy favorite by many leading up to the big race was withdrawn less than a week out due to a leg injury. In 2011 and 2012, both Nehro and Bodemeister respectively finished 2nd in the Derby, the latter a narrow loss.
So, let's recap this. Although American Pharoah falls under 2 individuals, we only count him once. Let's tally it up.
Baffert--3
Pletcher--4 (Maybe 5)
Zayat--2 (American Pharoah already counted on Baffert's total)
TOTAL--9 (Maybe 10)
Like I stated at the top of this post, half is all you need to know. Or is that only half of it?