Look! 2-year-olds on the turf – lots of them! This should be an interesting betting race.
| Post | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | ML Odds |
| 1. | Gung Ho | Michael Maker | Mike Smith | 20-1 |
| Has some winning experience, but wasn’t quite up to it when tested last time out. Update: scratched. | ||||
| 2. | Fantastic Song | Chad Brown | Javier Castellano | 20-1 |
| Only two races so far, but he showed promise. | ||||
| 3. | Shkspeare Shaliyah | Doodnauth Shivmangal | Alex Solis | 15-1 |
| Never out of the money – so far. | ||||
| 4. | Farraaj | Roger Varian | Neil Callan | 15-1 |
| Decent in Europe; should be a threat. | ||||
| 5. | Wrote | Aidan O’Brien | Ryan Moore | 12-1 |
| Another solid European performer. | ||||
| 6. | Coalport | Wayne Catalano | Junior Alvarado | 15-1 |
| And another good-looking, lightly-raced son of Kitten’s Joy. | ||||
| 7. | Caspar Netscher | Alan McCabe | Kieren Fallon | 6-1 |
| UK-based colt has more wins than some in this field have starts. | ||||
| 8. | Majestic City | Peter Miller | Garrett Gomez | 4-1 |
| Still learning, but has shown some talent. | ||||
| 9. | Daddy Nose Best | Steve Asmussen | Julien Leparoux | 30-1 |
| Big step up in class. | ||||
| 10. | Animal Spirits | Al Stall Jr. | Robby Albarado | 8-1 |
| Comes in off a win in the Bourbon, but can he beat the Euros? | ||||
| 11. | Excaper | Ian Black | Emma-Jayne Wilson | 30-1 |
| Canadian-based colt sticks with his regular jockey. | ||||
| 12. | Lucky Chappy | Graham Motion | Joel Rosario | 10-1 |
| Third in his first US start, but a winner in Italy. | ||||
| 13. | Finale | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez | 5-1 |
| Has three consecutive wins to his credit. | ||||
| 14. | State of Play | Graham Motion | Ramon Dominguez | 5-1 |
| Undefeated (in two starts), has the right tools. | ||||
| 15. | Tequila Factor | Wayne Catalano | Rafael Bejarano | 30-1 (AE) |
| Unlikely to start, and has never faced this sort of company. Update: Makes the field! Still a longshot. | ||||
Predictions: Caspar Netscher, Wrote, Lucky Chappy, Coalport
Longshot: Fantastic Song
An outstanding wagering race!
I’ll be looking closely at Fantastic Song as he hails from a barn that I follow.
Hoping for a few scratches to simplify the routine and hopefully clear the hurdles for the best late kickers.
I don’t think more than twelve green two year olds should be allowed on the Churchill Downs turf course. Anything more is an accident just waiting to happen.