It’s Triple Crown season again, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time to check out which horses to watch out for in the upcoming 2021 Kentucky Derby, including the sleepers, of course. Speaking of which, we will take a look at three horses that are not the favorites but we think have a serious chance of making loud noises at Churchill Downs this coming Saturday at this year’s edition of the Run for the Roses.
Midnight Bourbon was sold for$525,000, and since then it’s been nothing but money for Winchell Thoroughbreds LLC, which bought the horse at the Keeneland September Sale back in 2019. Midnight Bourbon has shown in all of its seven races, so far. He has won twice, placed second two times, and third three times. In its last race, Midnight Bourbon finished runner-up to Hot Rod Charlie – another 2021 Kentucky Derby horse — at the Louisiana Derby-G2 last March. Midnight Bourbon kicked off its 3-year-old season with a win at the Lecomte-G3, which was followed by a third-place finish at the Risen Star-G2. Trainer Steven Asmussen had Gun Runner placing third at the 2016 Kentucky Derby.
Bourbonic (+3000)
Bourbonic is one of the horses you should be keeping a close eye on, especially if you’re hunting for a high-value sleeper. Bourbonic has won three races in six starts, though it could be a pretty mysterious horse, given its lack of high-stakes races experience. That being said, in Bourbonic’s first and only graded stakes race appearance, it zoomed to first place, capturing the win at the Wood Memorial S. Presented by Resorts World Casino-G2 early April as a huge +7200 long shot. Could Bourbonic pull off another shocker at Churchill Downs this weekend?
Hidden Stash (+4000)
Trained by Victoria Oliver, Hidden Stash can make history at the 2021 Kentucky Derby, as it’s got the chance to become the first female trainer to have a horse win at the Run for the Roses. Oliver has already done a fantastic job saddling Hidden Stash, which has two wins and five shows in six starts. It’s got two shows as well in three graded stakes races, including a runner-up finish at the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby-G2 last March before finishing fourth at the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes-G2 the following month.
Will one of the sleepers above win the first leg of the 2021 Triple Crown, or will it be one of the favorites? Perhaps a long shot? View our Kentucky Derby predictions.
