Kentucky Derby 2017 News: Which Horses Are Likely to Win This Saturday's Race?
The 143rd Kentucky Derby is set to kick off this Saturday, May 6. This annual event sets aside more popular sports over classic horse racing, which features a mad two-minute dash across the dirt track at Churchill Downs in Louisville.
According to The Guardian, this year's Kentucky Derby could be the best one yet to look at longshots since I'll Have Another won at 15–1 odds back in 2012.
The Derby favorite heading into 2017 is the two-year-old champion, Classic Empire. However, he lost his first race of the season and missed significant training time to recuperate from an injury. He returned to win the Arkansas Derby last month, and since then, he has been installed as the 4-1 morning line favorite.
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This Saturday's race promises to be an entertaining event with 20 of the world's best horses and jockeys competing for the $2 million cash prize. With the post positions of the horses recently announced, it has become clear to some horseracing experts what the odds of each horse will be in winning the competition.
According to Bleacher Report, those who have the best odds to be included in the top three other than Classic Empire are McCracken and Irish War Cry.
McCraken has the opportunity to be a dark horse on Saturday proving to be strong finisher with breakaway speed. At +650 odds and beginning at post position no. 5, the horse has constantly been in the conversation to possibly achieve a top-four or even top-three finish this weekend. However, even at his best, McCraken would still require plenty of help if he wants to pull ahead Classic Empire.
Other than McCraken, another potential dark horse at the Kentucky Derby is Irish War Cry. With the same +650 odds as McCracken, Irish War Cry has the potential to be the first horse to ever win the Derby starting at post position No. 17. Whether the horse will be able to succeed in the race remains to be seen, but his practice sessions leading up to the Derby had reportedly proved his chances of actually winning the race.
The 143rd Kentucky Derby is set to take place this Saturday, May 6.
