The 2019 Kentucky Derby is upon us, and we’re steps away from parading some of the fastest horses on the planet right now. There are always favorites to win the race, but nothing is sure until the finish line is crossed by the entries. Many experts have already come out in the open with their picks, and it’s undeniably interesting what each of them is picking to top the field at the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Read on for the horses some of these horse racing savants have to say about the upcoming race at Churchill Downs.
Value bettors might like what CBS Sports is saying about the horse they are high on. That’s Cutting Humor, who isn’t one of the favorites to win the race with odds of +2500 to take the crown at Churchill Downs this coming weekend, but got a rave review from CBS Sports, partly because of the colt’s impressive performance at the Sunland Derby (Grade 3 stakes) late last April. The Sunland Derby race had the same length as the Kentucky Derby with both staged on a 1 1/8-mile track. In six races in his career so far, Cutting Humor has placed five times, with two wins and two runner-up finishes. Cutting Humor is trained by the renowned Todd Pletcher, who has steered two horses to Kentucky Derby wins (2010, 2017).
KentuckyDerby.com
Expert
Picks
Joe Kristufek
Maximum Security
Ed DeRosa
By My Standards
James Scully
Omaha Beach
Kellie Reilly
Game Winner
Vance Hanson
Omaha Beach
Scott Shapiro
Game Winner
There isn’t a unanimous pick to win the 2019 Kentucky Derby from among the experts over at KentuckyDerby.com, but two horses got two picks apiece in Omaha Beach and Game Winner. Omaha Beach is the top favorite to win the event this coming weekend. The Fox Hill Farms-owned three-year-old colt has never finished outside of the top three in all of his races. In addition to that, Omaha Beach has won each of his last three races. He placed first at Santa Anita Park back in February then won the Rebel Stakes (Grade 2) race and the Arkansas Derby (Grade 1) last March and earlier in April, respectively. At the Rebel Stakes, Omaha Beach defeated Game Winner, who finished second. As of this writing, Omaha Beach is priced +400 to win the first leg of this year’s Triple Crown.
Meanwhile, Game Winner (+450) is also attracting plenty of attention despite disappointing runner-up campaigns in his last two races. He finished second at the Santa Anita Derby (Grade ) and at the aforementioned Rebel Stakes (Grade 2). That being said, Game Winner won all of his first four races, including the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (Grade 1), the American Pharoah Stakes (Grade 1) Stakes, and the Del Mar Futurity (Grade 1). Game Winner is also trained by Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, a fact that speaks volume about why Game Winner should be taken very seriously.
One intriguing pick here is Ed DeRosa’s prediction that By My Standards will win the Kentucky Derby. By My Standards can be considered a sleeper, with his +3000 odds to win, but he’s got tremendous value, considering that he proved his endurance by winning the Louisiana Derby (Grade 2) on a 1 1/8-mile track last March.
Predict Em
Expert
Pick
Kenneth Strong
Game Winner
Kenneth Strong of Predict Em seems to love Game Winner, too. Strong made no mention of a direct pick to win the race, but he ranked Game Winner over the likes of Omaha Beach, Tacitus, and Roadster, in his top 10 picks to win the 2019 Kentucky Derby. Game Winner is looking to recover the brilliant form he consistently flashed when he was a two-year-old horse that dominated every race he entered. Game Winner has yet to win a race this year, but he nearly got one at the Rebel Stakes in which he lost by just a nose to Kentucky Derby favorite Omaha Beach. Baffert has high confidence in Game Winner, saying the horse “will be better” in the next race, per .Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier-Journal
