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The Grade I, $500,000 Churchill Downs Stakes is just one of several excellent races being offered on Saturday’s Kentucky Derby undercard. A field of 12 will line up for the seven-furlong event, which is scheduled to go off at approximately 2:45 p.m. ET. The Churchill Downs is Race 8 on the program, and it will be televised live on NBC.
#8 MITOLE (7-2 odds)
The morning-line favorite appears to have boundless potential as he’s won five straight starts for trainer Steve Asmussen. There was a significant break from his Chick Lang Stakes score at Pimlico last May to his allowance victory at Oaklawn two-back, but he appears none the worse for wear. Mitole’s convincing score in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap over Whitmore last time out stamps him as a legitimate contender in the Churchill Downs Stakes. Ricardo Santana Jr. rides atop the stallion.
Updated 2019 Kentucky Derby Odds
#2 LIMOUSINE LIBERAL (5-1 odds)
The Limo owns a 9-6-1-0 record at Churchill Downs, so he’s almost a must-use in the Churchill Downs Stakes. He placed in six of seven starts in 2018, with the lone exception being a fifth-place finish in the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Limousine Liberal’s first start of 2019 was a respectable third in the Commonwealth Stakes at Keeneland, which is also run at seven furlongs. Jose Ortiz will be aboard this logical contender.
#12 WHITMORE (4-1 odds)
This veteran is a Grade I winner going seven furlongs (the 2018 Forego at Saratoga), but he seems to prefer going six panels. Whitmore was fourth in the Stakes last year, which included a rough trip where he had to alter course late. He has class to spare, hitting the exacta in each of his last six starts (all stakes), but the six-year-old son of Pleasantly Perfect was no match for Mitole in the Count Fleet Sprint Handicap at Oaklawn, his favorite track, earlier this year. Javier Castellano will have Whitmore rolling late, but a small share appears to be his ceiling.
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#1 DO SHARE (10-1 odds)
This beautiful beast posted a career-best effort at Aqueduct’s Grade III Tom Fool, his first ever graded stakes victory. He made it to the track just three times in 2018 and failed to post a victory, but he was a seven-time winner in 2017, capping that campaign off with a strike in the Gravesend Stakes at Aqueduct. Do Share, who typically comes from off the pace, will be boarded by Irad Ortiz Jr., one of the better young jockeys in the country.
#4 BOBBY’S WICKED ONE (10-1 odds)
This three-year old has put up solid speed figures in his first three starts of 2019, all of which have been wins. That sampling includes a gate-to-wire victory in Keeneland’s Commonwealth Stakesl his last time out. The speedy son of Speightstown must be respected in this spot. Bobby’s Wicked One will have Miguel Mena on his back.
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The plays:
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