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[Cratos]

This year’s Derby trip will mark my 36th consecutive foray to the Kentucky Derby starting with the epic battles between Affirmed and Alydar in 1978; and this year’s Derby might be one of the best Kentucky Derbies if not competitive in a long time (at least for me), but two probables could deter that from happening; bad weather and injuries to expected contenders.

However let’s look on the bright side and hope neither probable happen.

Given that, the Derby field is shaping up just nicely with contenders from all corners of the nation.

From New York there will be the undefeated Verrazano who proved that he deserves to go with a good performance in the Wood. Goldencents, the Doug O'Neill trained charge from California was no less deserving as he proved his worth in winning the Santa Derby.

Coming out of Florida is my favorite, Orb who is trained by Hall-of-Famer, Shug McGaughey; and Orb might be one of the best contenders that Shug have had in a long time. To his credit, Orb has been victorious in the Fountain of Youth and the Florida Derby. Orb came in to my focus in the Fountain of Youth when he ran the last 5/16m of that race in a calculated 32.47 seconds; granted the surface was fast, but his move was exceptional.

Orb did not let his supporters down as he continued his winning ways in the Florida Derby by blistering the last 1/8m of that race in a calculated 12.40 seconds and moving forward with every stride.

Do Orb’s performances eliminate Verrazano or Goldencents? No, not by a longshot because Verrazano’s Wood performance was “workman” like as he got the last 1/8m of the Wood in 12.55 seconds.

Goldencents didn’t disappoint his backers either as he was tactically used by his rider to get the SA Derby 1-1/8m distance in a good 1:48.76.

There are other contenders in this year’s Derby field if entered; Bob Baffert’s Flashback, Vyjack the runner-up to Verrazano in the Wood, and Itsmyluckyday the favorite and runner-up to Orb in the Florida Derby to name a few.

But in my opinion the Churchill Downs track is made for Orb’s running style with it having the tightest turns of the three Triple Crown tracks and the two longest straightaways.