The famous derby offers these thoroughbreds a chance to qualify by putting them through a series of runs. Depending on the horses’ placements, they will be bestowed points, meaning the more points they earn, the more likely they are to qualify for the derby.
Only a few horses manage to do so and are the prime choices to bet for when the Kentucky Derby comes this 2021. If you do plan to tune in to the derby next year and bet on the horses, watching out for the top performers of the pre-derby races would surely pay off. Hence, here are some of the top thoroughbreds who are on the Road to the Kentucky Derby 2021.
Essential Quality
Essential Quality is a two-year-old colt trained by Brad H. Cox and owned by Godolphin LLC. He might be a new horse in the scene, but he’s already achieving quite convincing wins. Essential Quality has participated in three races and has won all of them. With this kind of momentum in winning, it would be reasonable to believe that he would place high in the next few races.
Essential Quality is one of the top-notch thoroughbreds raised by Godolphin, an Arabian horse racing company founded by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. They proved to be one of the best horse rearing companies since 1992. The young colt’s progress shows how much quality breeding and raising can do in the racing industry.
The company is one contributor to Essential Quality’s success. The other would be his trainer, Brad Cox. He has achieved much success as a trainer since 2004. Although he formally started a year later, he tallied a total of almost 1,500 first places so far. With a highly-skilled trainer at the helm, it’s no surprise how this colt has achieved the success he has these past few races.
Brooklyn Strong
Brooklyn Strong is a two-year-old Gelding trained by Daniel Velazquez and owned by Mark Schwartz. This young colt has been putting up wins of his own as a reasonably recent starter, as well. Brooklyn has participated in four races so far and has placed first in three of them, along with a third-place finish.
Schwartz has been a reasonably recent thoroughbred owner, but he already has the experience, once owning Wind Clan Warrior and Angela’s Dream. The most he has earned is in this year with Brooklyn Strong. With an excellent trainer, this incoming Kentucky Derby might be their chance to place strong and maybe even win.
Jackie’s Warrior
Jackie’s Warrior is another two-year-old colt competing in the Kentucky Derby. He’s owned by J. Kirk Robison and trained by Steven Asmussen. Like the first two, the colt has only been participating in a few races but has put up wins and shows promise to win, placing first in four out of five races.
Jackie’s Warrior’s success is no surprise to people tuning into horse racing. This colt is another product of high-quality rearing and training under top-notch trainer Steve Asmussen and widely-known thoroughbred owners, J. Kirk and Judy Robison. With quality training and maintenance, Jackie’s Warrior is sure to make a big name for himself.
Keepmeinmind
Keepmeinmind is a two-year colt trained up by Robertino Diodoro and owned by Cypress Creek LLC. The young colt has shown potential in his few starts with his strong showings. He only placed first once so far, but he has never lagged behind the leaders that far as he has at least a show and two places, second and third places, respectively.
Diodoro had his career as a trainer since 1995 and has accomplished much already, including Oklahoma Derby-winning gelding Broadway Empire. It’s showing again with Keepmeinmind’s strong showing these past few games. It’s still too soon to say anything for the young colt, but it is wise to keep a keen eye on him going through the pre-derby races.
Spielberg
Spielberg, another two-year-old colt, is trained by Bob Baffert and is co-owned by SF Racing, Starlight Stables, and Madaket Stables. The colt has started in six races so far and shows promise. He has two first-place finishes, one of which a notable win in the recent Los Alamitos Futurity-G2 race, two places, and a show.
Spielberg's performance is coming as no surprise again since he is trained by Baffert, another top-notch trainer who has been with horses and won multiple major derbies and stakes. Knowing Spielberg has an outstanding trainer, we can expect great things from him in his following races.
Takeaway
The pre-derby races of the Kentucky Derby offer much coming into its 2021 race, including knowledge and insight when rooting for thoroughbreds in the primary derby. Experts evaluate the horses during the pre-derby races for concrete predictions. Heeding their advice may help you win a viable payoff when the 2021 derby takes place.
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