Kentucky Derby Betting: Dialed In Gets Post 8 As Start Positions Set

Added on May 04, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

Horse Racing

Dialed In is the likely post time favorite in Saturday’s 137th running of the Kentucky Derby and today he was assigned Gate 8 as start positions for the ‘Run For The Roses’ were set. Morning lines for the Kentucky Derby are just now being disseminated and we’ll have them for you in a subsequent post.

Dialed In will have Julian Leparoux aboard and will try to get a third Kentucky Derby victory for veteran trainer Nick Zito. He won in 1991 with Strike the Gold and in 1994 with Go for Gin. Dialed In won the Florida Derby in his last start–his third win in of four career starts overall.

Uncle Mo–who’ll likely go off as the second choice in Kentucky Derby betting odds–was assigned post #18 in the twenty horse field. Trainer Todd Pletcher didn’t have an issue with the assignment:

“I think he ought to be able to relax and track the main speed. He’s doing well.”

Archarcharch got the most unfavorable draw and will start from the rail. The size of the field makes this even more problematic as the #1 starter tends to get ‘squeezed’ by the 19 horses to his right. Watch Me Go will start from post position #20 on the outside.
Dialed In has a chance to set history with a Kentucky Derby victory–there have only been three horses to win the race with only four previous lifetime starts and none since 1918. Alan-A-Dale claimed the victory in 1902 and Exterminator in 1918. Dialed In could become the first posttime favorite to win the ‘Run For The Roses’ with only four lifetime starts. In fact, there’s only been two posttime favorites with only four career starts–Coaltown in 1948 (he was a coupled entry with Triple Crown winner Citation) and Indian Charlie in 1998. Ironically, Indian Charlie is the sire of one of Dialed In’s primary challengers in the race–Uncle Mo.

Other top contenders and their post assignments are as follows: Mucho Macho Man, post 13; Animal Kingdom, post 16; and Nehro, post 19. Another horse of interest is Twice the Appeal who’ll start in the #3 position. Twice the Appeal will be ridden by Calvin Borel who has won three of the last four Kentucky Derby races including last year’s slop fest when he guided Super Saver to victory with a masterful trip over a challenging track and a big field.