Kentucky Derby Betting

Derby Prep Races

It's taking a few extra days, but handicappers studying which horse to bet on for the Kentucky Derby will get a good look at one of the favorites this Saturday.

The $250,000 Southwest Stakes were supposed to have been run Monday at Oaklawn Park track in Hot Springs, Ark. But when the temperature dipped as low as 18 degrees Fahrenheit during the chilly weekend, the track was frozen and officials were forced to move the race to what was reportedly going to be a Thursday start. Instead, the event was redrawn Thursday and rescheduled for Saturday.

The delay should be well worth it for racing fans. Lawyer Ron, trained by local legend Bob Holthus and listed at +1500 on the Kentucky Derby futures market, is the horse to beat. Lawyer Ron has been training at Oaklawn since January's easy season-opening Risen Star Stakes win at Louisiana Downs. Holthus, who boasts nine training victories at Oaklawn, had Lawyer Ron walked in the shed for an hour a day during the weekend layoff, then gave him a 1 ½-mile gallop on Tuesday. John McKee will ride the son of Langfuhr from post 3 at the Southwest.

The chestnut colt will have a healthy level of competition. Steppenwolfer, trained by Dan Peitz and winner of three of his four starts on dirt, will try to keep up the momentum from his second-level allowance victory on Feb. 3. In addition to the fast-closing Steppenwolfer, the field now includes undefeated Music School, coming off his own one-mile entry-level allowance victory at Oaklawn on Feb. 5. Robby Albarado was on board Music School for both his career wins, so he will give up his initial plans to ride Steppenwolfer over to Corey Lanerie.

Eight horses were originally on the docket to run at the Southwest. That field has been extended to ten for this Saturday. The other competitors, all Oaklawn regulars, are Mark of Success, Agrapha, Travelin Leroy, Sharp Attack, Kingsfield, Red Raymond (also trained by Holthus) and Celluloid Hero. Post time is 5:00 p.m.

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