Joe Q’s Horse Racing picks for each of the 6 races, but below is my pick 5 and pick 4 (as of right now) for the big races at Penn National on Friday night.
Remember Steve Coburn, owner of California Chrome? After his horse lost in the 2014 Belmont Stakes, dashing hopes of the first Triple Crown winner in 34 years, Coburn was not happy with the result of the race and a fresher horse just choosing to race in the Belmont.
Somehow, the Kentucky Derby has avoided the standard protest of anything caked in southern tradition. Anytime white elitism is on full display, it tends to come under attack with some complaint (fill in the usual references of slavery and colonialism). And certainly, there is room for those conversations; they aren’t completely out-of-bounds.
Break out the mint julep glasses & big hats. It’s almost time for the fastest 2 minutes on television. Though it is the youngest of the “triple crown” horse races, the Kentucky Derby is the most exciting. For nearly a century & a half, Churchill Downs in, Louisville, KY has been the site of the most popular horse race in America. How did it get to this iconic status?