Which 2 horses disappointed in the Kentucky Derby?

When the Kentucky Derby ends, inevitably some betting favorites will end up disappointing the public. Sometimes those lower-priced runners become compromised by a bad trip or extreme pace scenario. In other cases, popular choices who fail to deliver offer few excuses for not firing.

Here are two Derby horses at single-digit odds who did not deliver.

Derma Sotogake

Given all the scratches on Derby week, Derma Sotogake became one of the main players based on his fast win in the Grade 2 UAE Derby in Dubai and good form in his home races in Japan. He also brought tactical speed to a pace scenario that felt mild on paper.

Those factors made Derma Sotogake 7-1 at post time. But the Japan-based colt immediately found trouble with a poor break. He gave the field about a one-length head start and then shifted left awkwardly.

From there, it felt like Derma Sotogake became lost in the crowd. At the half-mile pole, he was traveling in 13th and 10 lengths off the pacesetter.

Derma Sotogake did start to move forward gradually after the half-mile point. He went a bit wide around the far turn while attempting to make some sort of move, although Mage rallied outside of Derma Sotogake with a stronger move and ended up winning the race.  

In contrast to Mage's winning rally, Derma Sotogake plugged along in the stretch at an even pace without completely fading out of the picture. He could not even pass a tired Hit Show, who had run closer to the leaders and had every right to fold in the stretch run. Considering all the excitement behind him, Derma Sotogake finished a disappointing sixth.

Derma Sotogake does possess enough ability to compete in the big American dirt races if the connections want to take another shot. Perhaps they can find an experienced American jockey to ride him upon return.  

Tapit Trice

The expected favorite did not start as the favorite at 9-2. Instead, that honor went to Angel of Empire, who ended up at 4-1 at post time.

Nevertheless, Tapit Trice disappointed from the start with his run. Once again, he started slowly and this time jockey Luis Saez failed to coax him into a midpack position heading into the first turn. Once the other horses started to crowd around Tapit Trice, Saez stopped pushing him forward.

From there, Tapit Trice became trapped on the inside and trailed the field as they rounded the first turn and straightened onto the backside. Backers could feel his chances slipping away at this point. With that said, the pace up front went fast enough to give Tapit Trice a chance despite the poor run into the first turn.

Tapit Trice passed a few horses heading into the far turn and found an open path to tip outside of horses. At the top of the stretch, Tapit Trice had a clear path forward. But he looked spent already and picked off only tired horses in the stretch rather than making a more serious move.

In contrast to his efforts in the Tampa Bay Derby (G2) and Blue Grass Stakes (G1), Tapit Trice seemed flat in his favorite part of the race. Perhaps the troubled run into the first turn and needing to come from last affected his stretch run, but it's possible that the public overrated him as well. After all, he did get enough pace ahead of him.

Overall, Tapit Trice disappointed the public in the Kentucky Derby. 

Tapit Trice might improve in the Belmont Stakes. Just remember that not every horse who runs as a deep closer improves in marathons, as the longer distance sometimes saps the energy before the horse can start his rally.

With that said, most sons of Tapit enjoy dirt marathons. But considering Tapit Trice disappointed the public in the Kentucky Derby, bettors should demand value on him in the Belmont if they are interested in forgiving his flat run.