Holiday's road

Favored Harlan's Holiday draws 14th post for Derby

Harlan's Holiday trainer Ken McPeek looks up during the Derby draw Wednesday. AP

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- The numbers are set for Harlan's Holiday: He'll try to win the Kentucky Derby from the No. 14 post as the 9-2 favorite in a full field of 20 horses.

Harlan's Holiday, the consistent bay colt with six wins and four seconds in 10 career starts, was a slight favorite over Came Home and Buddha. They were both 5-1 in the morning line set Wednesday night by Churchill Downs oddsmaker Mike Battaglia.

Harlan's Holiday, trained by Ken McPeek, is coming off strong wins in the Florida Derby and Blue Grass Stakes. Came Home has won six of seven, including the Santa Anita Derby, and lightly raced Buddha has a three-race winning streak after his victory in the Wood Memorial.

Ky. Derby Post Positions Post  Horse  1.  Johannesburg  2.  Wild Horses  3.  Perfect Drift  4.  Lusty Latin  5.  War Emblem  6.  Ocean Sound  7.  Request For Parole  8.  Essence of Dubai  9.  Medaglia d'Oro  10.  Buddha   11.  Private Emblem  12.  Castle Gandolfo  13.  Proud Citizen  14.  Harlan's Holiday  15.  Came Home  16.  Saarland  17.  Danthebluegrassman  18.  It'sallinthechase  19.  Easy Grades  20.  Blue Burner

Came Home, with Chris McCarron aboard, will leave from the No. 15 post, while Buddha, with trainer Jim Bond making the first selection in the draw, went for the No. 10 gate.

Irish-based Johannesburg and Wood runner-up Medaglia d'Oro were co-third picks at 6-1.

“This is going to be a very contentious field,” Battaglia said. “With 20 betting interests, one horse isn't going to be bet down by a lot of support.”

Harlan's Holiday is the highest morning-line favorite since the line was first published in 1949.

McPeek said he left the post call to jockey Edgar Prado, who went for the final spot in the main gate.

“He wanted to have that opening on his outside. Whatever makes him comfortable, makes us comfortable,” McPeek said. “Most of the speed is on the inside of us. Edgar was thrilled.”

Johannesburg, who will be ridden by Gary Stevens, was the 2-year-old champion after winning all seven races last year, capped by the Breeder's Cup Juvenile in October. He was beaten by a 4-year-old filly in his only race this year -- at The Curragh in Ireland.

Medaglia d'Oro, with trainer Bobby Frankel choosing second, went for the No. 9 post, just inside Buddha. Stevens, with several other posts available, went for the No. 1 gate.

Stevens learned he would ride the Aidan O'Brien-trained Johannesburg earlier Wednesday, once it was determined his other contender, Sunday Break, did not have enough graded-stakes earnings to qualify for the 20-horse field.

With more than 20 contenders, the Derby field was chosen by graded-stakes earnings.

“It's exciting news,” Stevens said of his chance to ride Johannesburg. “There's a certain way Aidan wants him ridden, and that's part of our strategy. We've got be somewhere. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be.”

After the first five 3-year-olds, the odds soared, with Sheik Mohammed's Essence of Dubai, Saarland and Perfect Drift each at 15-1.

Essence of Dubai, a winner of two stakes races in Dubai in his only starts this year, leaves from the No. 8 post, and Saarland, fourth in the Wood and healthy after minor throat surgery, starts from the No. 16 post.

The field, from the rail out, with odds: Johannesburg (6-1), Wild Horses (50-1), Perfect Drift (15-1), Lusty Latin (30-1), War Emblem (20-1), Ocean Sound (50-1), Request for Parole (20-1), Essence of Dubai (15-1); Medaglia d'Oro (6-1), Buddha (5-1), Private Emblem (20-1), Castle Gandolfo (20-1), Proud Citizen (30-1), Harlan's Holiday (9-2), Came Home (5-1), Saarland (15-1), Danthebluegrassman (50-1), It'sallinthechase (50-1), Easy Grades (20-1) and Blue Burner (30-1).

Proud Citizen gives trainer D. Wayne Lukas his 39th Derby starter, extending his record.

The biggest surprise was trainer Bob Baffert's decision to enter Danthebluegrassman for owner Mike Pegram, whose Real Quiet won the 1998 Derby. Eighth in the Santa Anita Derby, Danthebluegrassman worked well enough at Churchill Downs to earn a shot. He's in post No. 17 at odds of 50-1.

“Mike's the kind of a guy who likes to take a chance,” Baffert said. “A lot of my second stringers wound up beating my first stringers.”

Baffert now has two Derby starters. War Emblem, purchased for him by Prince Ahmed Salman after the colt won the Illinois Derby, will leave from the No. 5 post at odds of 20-1.

The 20-horse rule was instituted after the 1974 Derby, when a record 23 horses went to post for the 100th running won by Cannonade. The current grade-stakes earnings format began in 1986.

Among contenders who didn't make the field were Windward Passage -- bumped by Danthebluegrassman -- Straight Gin, Sunday Break and U S S Tinosa.

The last 20-horse field to start a Derby was 1984, when Swale won. In 1996 and 1999, 20 were entered but not all 20 started.

If all 20 run Saturday, the Derby will have a record purse of $1,205,000, with the winner receiving $905,000.

There are no couplings for betting purposes in the Derby because of a recent Kentucky racing rule. It states there will be no entries in an event worth at least $1 million.

 

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