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.
(For the BetAmerica sign-up bonus, click here).
SS: Last Week's Results – American Pharoah made his 2-5 odds seem like a gift after being left alone on an easy lead in Oaklawn's GII Rebel S. Great to see the reigning 2-year-old champ return the right way after being forced to miss the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile with a foot ailment. While it remains to be seen if he's the one you want going 10 furlongs in the Derby, it's impossible not to be impressed by the Zayat homebred's raw ability.
GIII Spiral S. -It's pretty difficult to stay away from Metaboss–especially if he's anywhere near 4-1–after landing on him in the GIII El Camino Real Derby last time. Both of us made a pretty good case for him that day after his visually impressive maiden win over Santa Anita's lawn in early January, and he certainly didn't disappoint by turning in another serious stretch rally into an extremely slow early pace in the Golden Gate feature. My only concern here is how the track will be playing Saturday night. Likely favorite Royal Son took advantage of a very speed-favoring strip when running away with the John Battaglia Memorial S., but he should face a lot more early pressure this time around. Will be boxing Metaboss with Another Lemon Drop in my personal wagers. Selection: #11 Metaboss (4-1).
Wagered: $2,000. Current Total: $2,330.
BD: Last Week's Results – Was able to smoke out that 2-5 winner American Pharoah in the GII Rebel S. Have never been more proud. . . Still not sure what to make of that runner going forward. He's done absolutely nothing wrong and has looked like a monster in each of his wins, but it'll be interesting to see what happens when he gets into a real dogfight.
GIII Spiral S. – Steve and I both picked Metaboss last time in the GIII El Camino Real Derby (click here), but I don't think I fully appreciated that performance until now because I was too busy rooting for exactas. Well off a slow early pace (:25.29, :49.25 and :1:13.98), the Jeff Bonde pupil seemed to be running out of gas on the home turn, but swung out and found another gear to blow away his competition. He got his final three furlongs in a very swift :35.06, with an :11.76 final quarter. That he's proven at this nine-furlong distance is key–he's the only runner to have won at the trip, and he was perhaps a bit of a question mark going this far before last time. Maybe this is a stretch, but you could argue that he was also subsequently flattered by Bolo's very good third in the GII San Felipe S. earlier this month. Selection: #11 Metaboss (4-1).
Wagered: $2,000. Current Total: $2,610.
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