LA Derby and Sunland Derby

   The LA Derby only had a few entries until everybody got the same idea and it now has a full field. If Mucho Macho Man can repeat his win in the Risen Star it would be another step along the way for the story of the year, Kathy Ritvo. In case you didn't know, Kathy, the trainer of Macho Man, had a heart transplant in the recent past. I won't go into all the details but come derby day you can bet she and her horse will be the biggest story at Churchill Downs.

   Macho Man figures to be the favorite in this race but I'm going to buck him. I think Elite Alex ran into some tough ones at OP and had a rough trip in his last. There's some speed in this race and it's not probable that Macho would get the lead with a soft pace as he did last time. Wilkinson is the only other graded winner in here beside Macho Man so those two seem to have a little class edge. Kelly Breen is going to have a busy weekend with two horses in here and two in the Sunland Derby. I don't have any of my pedigree horses in this race so am just going by what they've done so far.

Here's how I see it:

1 - Elite Alex
2 - Mucho Macho Man
3 - Nacho Business
4 - Left

Sunland Derby: This race is more to my liking as far as betting goes. There are a couple in here with pedigrees I kind of like. Sinai has nice breeding but I will reserve judgement on him until he stretches out a little. Supreme Ruler, on the other hand, has shown some ability in a 2 turn race already and if he can run to his pedigree could prove to be a nice upset in here.
   Astrology is the likely favorite as he's been in all his starts. He's been highly regarded all year and has been on the bench for 4 months so I think he may be a tad short for this. I don't know why the change in jocks from Gomez to Leparoux and, as I understand it, Julian will only have about 24 hrs to get back here from Dubai while Gomez is right here at the FG.
Breen and Bravo are all over the place this week so maybe they can score with one somewhere.

1 - Supreme Ruler
2 - Ruler On Ice
3 - Astrology
4 - Nacho Saint
5 - Sinai

Best of Luck,
Backstretch