The Battle of the Century at 2015 Kentucky Derby

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Posted: April 27, 2015

Updated: October 6, 2017

Exceptional field will be competing in this year’s Kentucky Derby at the popular Churchill Downs.

This Year’s “Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” will be a battle of the best. Bob Baffert is well-known for his amazing training, but this year he did even better than usual. After a very successful prep season, American Pharoah is very likely to be the favourite of the $2million race amongonline sportsbooks in the US. Dortmund, another one of Baffert’s horses is said to be in the winning race as well. This is a very rare situation, to see such great horses on the same race by the same trainer. All sportsbetting fans in the US can be very excited about this legendary race.

Baffert had 4 Derby wins; the last one being in 2002 this would be the first in over ten years. However Todd Pletcher, another famous and rightfully feared trainer, is here to make that as hard for Buffert as possible. Pletcher’s Carpe Diem and Materiality have shown great success in the pre-season. Although Materiality didn’t race as a 2-year-old, he did win the Florida Derby quite impressively. The list of highlighted horses doesn’t end here. Frosted, the winner of Wood Memorial, Firing Line and International Star can also be a threat to Baffert’s horses.

Never seen intra-barn duel

The famous trainer and his jockey, Victor Espinoza expected American Pharoah to be tested in the Arkanasas Derby, but despite the jockey’s ease off at the end the horse won the race by eight lengths. However, the other one of Baffert’s fantastic duo Dortmund, has won the Santa Anita Derby by a remarkable 4,5 lengths. Having defeated another top favourite Firing Lane, Dortmund has the advantage of competing against top horses. Thus American Pharoah has never been pushed in the same class. This could be the biggest intra-barn duel of all times. Both horses liking to leave the group behind and run lead, it is likely that the two jockeys Martin Garcia and Victor Espinoza will be in a head to head race till the end.

According to gambling news, the solid competition trained by Pletcher could sabotage Bafferts win. Carpe Diem has shown excellent performance in the pre-season. WinStar farm and Stonestreet Stables bought the horse for $1,6 million at the age of 2. The owners said they saw great promise, and it is proving to be a good hunch. Hall of Fame jockey believes in Carpe Diem as well, by choosing to ride him over the stablemate favourite Materiality. He has been working with both horse in the prep season but had to make a choice for the big race. Major concerns were raised about Materiality’s experience, but by beating Upstart an experience 3year old, he is proving them wrong.

Frosted stands strong in the competition after trainer Kiara McLaughlin decided to change the jockey to Joel Rosario. Rare contender of the Derby Mubtaahij made his reputation entirely outside the US. He has won the UAE Derby in Dubai by an impressive eight lengths. Despite his lack of experience in fields as crowded as this, it would be a mistake to write off the Mike de Kock-trained horse and his Belgian jockey Christophe Soumillon. Whilts Upstart and Firing Lane suffered a few losses this year, they are still to be thought of as strong competitors.

The strongest Derby field ever

Handicappers, trainers, jockeys and many others seem to think that this indeed will be the best field in the history. Consider the great range and number of extremely talented horses in this year’s show; it is definitely the best season in a while. It became a ritual that this time of the year all horseracing fans start to complain about the 3-year-old crop, but 2015 has seem to be surprising them. The excitement of the Derby was always amusing but the 141st run has raised the stakes even higher. The combination of such elite trainers, great pedigrees and talented jockeys resulted in handicappers reaching back to the 70-80s for comparisons.


• Strongest field of all times
• Bob Baffet’s chance for a 5th Derby win
• Head to head intra-barn dual

Since the Interstate Horse Racing Act of 1978, betting on horseraces has seen an incredible rise. Allowing interstate off-track wagers, the act made it possible for anyone across the country to place bets on their phones or the internet. It was only natural for US gambling laws to keep up with the innovation of technology, making betting as comfortable as possible.

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