We had already taken a brief look into the early Kentucky Derby favorites, after time progressed, and we approach race time, we take another updated look into the contenders. A couple of things have happened since we last touched on how ‘the most exciting two minutes in sports’ are shaping up for the 2016 edition. Are new horses to be considered to take the race or are the early favorites still atop of the odds?
Back on early April, the top two horses that we picked as early contenders for the most important race of the year were Mohaymen and Nyquist. At this time, a bit has changed since our initial assessment of the Kentucky Derby favorites. While Nyquist is still gathering a lot of attention from people that will be betting on the Kentucky Derby, while Mohaymen is getting colder by the minute.
In the Kentucky Derby points standings, Mohaymen dropped from number 1 to 9 in the past couple of weeks. While Nyquist have stayed firm at #2. The top position is currently held by Gun Runner, a 3-year old horse owned by Winchell Thoroughbreds, born in Kentucky. This horse have been showing some powerful performances, but despite being at the top of the Leader board, experts betting on Kentucky Derby race day will likely not pick the chestnut colored horse.
Nyquist is still picked by many different horse racing experts as the Horse to beat at May 7th. Trained by Doug O’Neill and Jockeyed by the experienced Mario Gutierrez, the undefeated horse is at 333-100 in the early odds. This horse has scouts all over the country wowed, especially after impressive performances in all of its races, maintaining an undefeated streak of seven races. One of its most impressive run came in the 2015 Breeder’s Cup, when Nyquist came from behind and rallied from the outside to win at the end. Since then his name has been on several lists of Kentucky Derby favorites all over the internet.
Also in the aforementioned Breeder’s Cup, Exaggerator came in fourth and until the Santa Anita Derby in April 9th; he wasn’t expected to be much of contender. On that Race Exaggerator put on a performance that left experts and seasoned bettors with stunned. It was an extraordinary, convincing and strong victory that came from out of nowhere. After that win, the odds for Exaggerator are now at 8-1. It is a consistent horse that seems to be reaching its top form at the best possible time.
Both Horses will meet each once more at Churchill Downs and they are gearing to have a very interesting showdown. At that very race, it will be interesting to see if Mohaymen’s drop in the ranking will make it an interesting prospect or will it be Exaggerator handing Nyquist its first loss. At the moment, the safe bet is still Nyquist. As many different prominent analysts consider this horse to be a stand out above the other Kentucky Derby Favorites.