The road to the Kentucky Derby closed out the month of March with a bang. The Florida Derby & Arkansas Derby both proved to be very competitive and provided some fireworks as we move closer and closer to the 149th Kentucky Derby. With a little over 30 days left until the run for the roses, let’s take a moment to look back at an exciting weekend.
2023 Florida Derby- Forte Finds a Way, Despite Trip Trouble (And he still has haters)
There’s been numerous races throughout the prep season that we’ve seen a closing horse look like they were too far back in the pack to get the job done before ultimately winning. The Florida Derby was no different for the overwhelming 2/5 Favorite Forte & Jockey Irad Ortiz Jr. Last week on the Decadent & Depraved Podcast, the boys spoke in depth about the vulnerability of Forte drawing the 11 post but all of us thought he was talented enough to overcome that obstacle. Little did we know that this horse was going to show such a gritty performance bouncing back from all sorts of traffic trouble. With mud being kicked in his face and an aggressive early closing move made by Jockey Luis Saez aboard #4 Mage, Forte had no choice but to swing wide down the middle of the track and bring his best performance to get the win. Both horse and jockey busted their ass every step of the way and will be your favorite come the first Saturday in May.
Despite winning this race, there seem to be quite a few analysts around the country who aren’t impressed with the performance from Forte. These analysts seem to be chomping at the bit hoping that Forte will be massively over-bet on Derby Day, leaving them plenty of room to find value plays to cash some hefty tickets. I’m not so sure that I agree with them, as Forte has done nothing but win in multiple different scenarios and in impressive fashion.
One of those horses that experts seem to really like is Mage for trainer Gustavo Delgado. This horse ran an impressive second to Forte and has improved steadily in his lightly raced career showing impressive speed figures and willing to take on more distance. This will be another horse to keep an eye on when you see the tote board at Churchill Downs as I could seem him on either end of the spectrum in the wagering pools.
Check out the Decadent & Depraved Podcast to hear all of our picks, insight and analysis of the races ahead this weekend. Check back to KyDerbyTrail.com for our picks before race time Saturday. Best of luck to everyone betting this weekend. Lets cash some tickets!!!!