Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert has won the Kentucky Derby five times. Now, he’s in great position to make it six on Saturday and pay off on the 2019 Kentucky Derby odds.
With the scratch of original morning line favorite Omaha Beach, Baffert now sends out the first three choices on the morning line. If they end up going off as the three shortest prices in the field, it will be the first time in history that one barn has sent out the top three in the wagering.
Baffert, who has won the Triple Crown twice in the past four years, can tie Ben Jones for the leader all time in Derby wins with six.
Horseplayers have a difficult decision and each of the trio has a legitimate shot of wearing the roses on Saturday. Let’s break down Baffert’s Derby hopefuls:
2019 Kentucky Derby Odds: Game Winner (9-2)
Last year’s champion two-year-old won all four of his starts. He capped it off by winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1) over the Churchill Downs main track. The colt spent most of the last six months as the early betting favorite for the race. However, he came up short in his two starts this year.
He ran well in both, a nose loss to Omaha Beach in the Rebel (G2) at Oaklawn Park and a half-length loss to his stablemate Roadster in the Santa Anita Derby (G1).
The colt is bred to handle the distance and an off track. The colt has no experience over a wet surface, however. This colt is a serious contender to give Baffert his sixth Derby victory.
2019 Kentucky Derby Odds: Improbable (5-1)
This colt draws a better spot than his stablemates. Like Game Winner, Improbable was undefeated as a juvenile and has run second in his two Derby preps. The colt was beaten a neck in the other half of the split Rebel. Then he was beaten a length by Omaha Beach in the Arkansas Derby (G1).
Of the three Baffert runners he is the only one that has encountered a wet track, that outing coming in the slop last time out in the Arkansas Derby.
In early betting on Friday, this colt was sitting at 5-1. The second choice in the will pays for the Oaks/Derby double behind Game Winner. An off track will not slow him down and he appears to be sitting on a big effort much like his stablemate.
2019 Kentucky Derby Odds: Roadster (5-1)
Baffert was high on this colt last year after he ran third in the Del Mar Futurity (G1) in his stakes debut. He missed some time with minor throat surgery and did not return until March 1 of this year, trouncing a field of first level allowance foes.
That set him up for the Santa Anita Derby (G1). There, he stalked the early pace and got the best of his more experienced barn mate Game Winner by a half-length. Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith had the call to ride this colt or Arkansas Derby winner Omaha Beach. He picked the latter, only to see that colt scratched on Wednesday.
In his four starts, he has not raced over a wet track. However, he does have a solid enough off-track pedigree so he likely would be able to handle it.
If any of the trio wins on Saturday it certainly would not be a surprise. It is tough to separate them. But Game Winner, with a Grade 1 victory over the main track at Churchill Downs, appears to have the best shot of winning.