Steve Sherack & Brian DiDonato will make $100 win/place bets on 20 Kentucky Derby preps. The handicapper with the highest total at the end wins.
(To sign up for the BetAmerica sign-up bonus, click here).
SS: Saturday's Results – Gorgeous Bird never turned in any kind of serious run while fifth at 6-1 in the Fountain of Youth S. Imperia, meanwhile, showed very little interest as the heavy favorite in the Risen Star. Not a good day.
Wagered: $1,000. Current Total: $2,080.
GIII Southwest S. – I'm going to side with a comebacking son of Curlin that I was quite high on last summer as a 2-year-old here. Bold Conquest tipped his hand with a strong second first out at the Spa after chasing three deep throughout behind the promising Blame Jim (finally resurfaced to finish second as the favorite to the talented Stanford earlier this month). The chestnut showed plenty of heart winning a stretch-long duel to graduate next out at Saratoga Aug. 16, then returned on short notice and came within a neck of annexing the Sept. 6 GIII Iroquois at Churchill while making his two-turn debut after a wide trip and another lengthy throwdown in the lane. Bold Conquest–the second foal out of the multiple stakes-placed Distorted Humor mare One for Jim–admittedly took a small step backward when a distant third behind the jaw-dropping Carpe Diem in the GI Claiborne Breeders' Futurity after falling farther back than usual early (maybe the consecutive stretch battles caught up with him?), but the time off appears to have done him quite well. Love the five-furlong bullet in :59 3/5 (1/21) two works back at Fair Grounds and it can't hurt that Asmussen and Santana Jr. teamed up to win this last year with Tapiture, who was also returning from the bench off a winning effort in Churchill's GII Kentucky Jockey Club. Selection: #5 Bold Conquest (10-1).
BD: Saturday's Results – As Steve said, Gorgeous Bird did very little running. Can't win them all… Keen Ice did what I feared he might–he ran on for a good third, but I wonder if he's the type who will always tease you like that. If he gets into the Derby, though, he might be the type to spice up the trifecta or super.
Wagered: $1,000. Current Total: $2,360.
GIII Southwest S. – Kantune has always caught my eye as a horse with talent, and while he took seven starts to finally earn his diploma, his early losses look pretty good in hindsight. The Mark Casse pupil split GII San Vincente S. winner Lord Nelson and sidelined MGISP and GIII Sham S. romper Calculator on debut at Del Mar in July, for example, and was a close third behind the highly regarded Prospect Park and Cyrus Alexander going this distance at Santa Anita Dec. 27. He finally figured it all out last time over this track and trip Jan. 23, pressing a somewhat moderate early pace before really turning it on in the stretch to win by a visually impressive 3 1/2 lengths. Kantune is a textbook example of a popular angle: when a horse who has professional maiden tendencies finally breaks through, the light sometimes goes on so to speak, and he comes right back to win again. He'll get tested for class here, certainly, but Casse shows confidence to wheel back on short rest and the Gary Barber colorbearer could be sitting on a career-best effort. Selection: #9 Kantune (12-1).
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