Get our 2024 Breeders' Cup Picks and Odds
Below you will find updated information regarding the 2008 Kentucky Derby. On this page we will be posting updated articles, picks, odds and information all pertaining to the 2008 Kentucky Derby. Bookmark this page and check back often for updates.
2008 Kentucky Derby Results
Big Brown showed why he was the favorite in the 2008 Kentucky Derby and dominated this race from start to finish and will be a heavy favorite when the Preakness is run on May 17th, 2008. As it stands now there will only be one other holdover from the Derby that will enter the Preakness Stakes. This is clearly the horse to beat when the Preakness rolls around and it will interesting to see how low his odds go. A 1/5 favorite is certainly not out of the question.
Read more about 2008 Kentucky Derby Results.
Kentucky Derby Preview
by Robert Ferringo - 05/02/2008
Well, the Kentucky Derby field is finally set. Wednesday the 20 allotted spots were filled and post positions were determined later in the evening. We now know who is going to take part in the Greatest Two Minutes In Sports, but I still don't know how much closer we are to determining a winner in one of the most wide-open fields of the last 20 years.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Preview.
Kentucky Derby Post Positions Crucial to Success
by Robert Ferringo - 05/01/2008
Imagine if the NBA Draft had a lottery to determine the order in which teams got to choose their draft position. No, I didn't say have a lottery to determine the order of their picks. We already have that. But instead, imagine that the lottery determined and order for the teams to CHOOSE what number they wanted to draft.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Post Positions.
Jockeys Underrated Factor In Derby
by Trevor Whenham - 05/01/2008
The closer we get to Saturday, the more we will hear about each of the horses in the Kentucky Derby field and what they can or can't do. We'll also hear all about the trainers and their ability to get a horse ready for the biggest of races (or inability in Todd Pletcher's case). In all of the chaos and confusion of this week, though, they guys we won't hear as much about are perhaps the most important - the jockeys. In a race as crowded and rough as the Derby the decisions a jockey makes can make the difference between a win and a bad loss. There are obviously exceptions, but for the most part horses are much better off with a jockey that has ridden them before and is experienced in the Derby.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Jockeys.
Breakdown of Six Kentucky Derby Favorites
by Robert Ferringo - 04/30/2008
We are just four short days away from the Fastest Two Minutes In Sports and one thing is clear: Churchill Downs is in total chaos. And it's going to get worse before it gets better.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Favorites.
Kentucky Derby Trends
by Trevor Whenham - 04/30/2008
Now that the Kentucky Derby is just a few days away and the field is set, the serious business of trying to figure out who is going to win is now in full swing. Every year there are several major trends that we have to contend with as we make our choices. For example, last year we had to decide if we liked Street Sense even though a Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner had never won the Derby. We don't have to worry about that one this year because War Pass is out with an injury.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Trends.
Louisville Offers Kentucky Derby Events Galore
by Greg Melikov - 04/29/2008
Louisville becomes a three-ring circus during the many days of festivities from April leading up to the Kentucky Derby. There are scores of Kentucky Derby events that draw a crowd, especially this week.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Events.
Big Brown - Likely Kentucky Derby Favorite
by Trevor Whenham - 04/25/2008
This year's Kentucky Derby presents a favorite who could be truly special, but who is very difficult to understand. His name is Big Brown. If you haven't heard of him yet then you will soon, and you could hear about him a lot. His name isn't the most romantic, but it comes from where you might guess - the owner who named him owned a trucking company that worked with UPS. We'll get into why he's so hard to figure out, but he has a heck of a story, so let's take a look at it.
Read more about Big Brown at the Kentucky Derby.
Kentucky Derby Pace Scenario
by Trevor Whenham - 04/25/2008
If you were to try to generalize about the pace scenario in the Kentucky Derby you would say that the huge field and the excitement of the massive crowd will force horses to go out faster than they should, and that will lead to front-runners burning out and the race being set up for a horse to win from somewhere off the pace. There are exceptions, of course - War Emblem took the lead and ran away with it in 2002. For the most part, though, a couple of horses take the lead and kill each other trying to keep it, leaving the field to pick up the pieces. Here's a look at how the Derby pace could set up this year based on some of the horses that are being aimed at the race and have a high likelihood of getting in:
Read more about Kentucky Derby Pace.
Kentucky Derby Questions
by Trevor Whenham - 04/25/2008
This is the time of year when horseplayers struggle to figure out what is going to happen in the Kentucky Derby. The prep races are all done, the field is becoming clearer, and we have too much time to just sit around and try to outsmart ourselves. The Derby is always a big challenge, but I think that it's shaping up to be even tougher to call than normal this year. The field is deep but not as strong as we see some years, and even the top contenders have more questions and concerns than in most years. As I sit here more than a week away from the Derby trying to make it all make sense, here are 10 questions which I am wrestling with:
Read more about Kentucky Derby Questions.
Kentucky Derby Last Ten Winners: Where Are They Now?
by Greg Melikov - 04/24/2008
Ever what wonder what happened to winners of the Kentucky Derby? The oldest survivor is the resident queen of Bertram and Diana Firestone's Newstead Farm near Upperville, Virginia.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Last Ten Winners.
Horse Racing Exotic Bets
by Robert Ferringo - 04/23/2008
When some people think of "exotics" and "horses" they might think about a petite, blonde female and a sick, twisted, cruel video that is enough to make an Agnostic go to confession. But when people who know The Track hear about exotics and horses they think about one thing: opportunity.
Read more about Horse Racing Exotic Bets.
Kentucky Derby Futures
by Greg Melikov - 04/21/2008
Finding value in the 134th Kentucky Derby won't be difficult. That's because since Spectacular Bid won in 1979, only three favorites smelled the roses - all in the 21st Century: Street Sense, 9-2 last year; Smarty Jones, 4-1 in 2004; and Fusaichi Pegasus, nearly 5-2 in 2000.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Futures.
Is This Pletcher's Year at the Derby?
by Trevor Whenham - 04/18/2008
You might not like the guy, but it is hard to argue that Todd Pletcher is the best trainer in the thoroughbred game these days. After all, he has won four consecutive Eclipse Awards for being the top trainer in the country, he has piled up an impressive stack of meet titles at the top tracks in the country, and he has set and surpassed records for annual wins and earnings. There is a glaring hole in his list of accomplishments, though - he has never won the Kentucky Derby. He's had lots of tries, but at this time last year he hadn't even won a Triple Crown race. That changed in the Belmont last June when the spectacular filly Rags to Riches nosed out Curlin.
Read more about Todd Pletcher.
Inconsistency the Theme at This year's Derby
by Trevor Whenham - 04/17/2008
If there is a theme for this year's Kentucky Derby it can be summed up in one word - Inconsistency. If you are looking for more you could try maddening inconsistency, or mind-numbing inconsistency, or even incomprehensible inconsistency. Whichever you prefer, one thing remains true - more than most years, this year's class of three year olds can't decide if they are any good or not. Just when a horse starts to look like a winner they do something that forces us to reconsider. Good horses suddenly look terrible, and horses that we have already ruled out do something to get back in the mix.
Read more about Inconsistency at the Derby.
Filly Could Have a Chance in the Derby
by Trevor Whenham - 04/15/2008
As the field starts to fill out for the Kentucky Derby, one horse that looks like it stands a very good chance of walking into the gate on May 3 is Eight Belles. That isn't particularly noteworthy in that the horse will have reasonably high odds and won't have a ton of people picking it as a potential winner. What does make the potential entry of Eight Belles interesting, though, is that she is a she - a filly. It's pretty rare to see a filly in the Derby, and it takes an exceptional filly to be competitive against the boys. That doesn't mean that Eight Belles should be ruled out just because she's a girl.
Read more about Fillies in the Kentucky Derby.
Synthetic Tracks and the Kentucky Derby
by Trevor Whenham - 04/15/2008
In the weeks leading up to the Kentucky Derby we are going to hear endlessly about synthetic surfaces. People will be talking about how well horses will be able to transition from synthetic to dirt, and what meaning we can draw from races that took place on a synthetic surface. For serious handicappers the synthetic surface is the cause of serious headaches. For casual horseplayers, though, all the talk about synthetic surfaces is just confusing and overwhelming. If you don't understand a little bit about them then you could make a serious mistake when making your picks without even knowing it. Here's a quick primer on synthetic surfaces:
Read more about Synthetic Tracks.
Kentucky Derby Contenders
by Trevor Whenham - 04/14/2008
The Kentucky Derby is less than three weeks away, and all but one of the meaningful prep races is in the books, so it seems like a good time to look at how the top of the field is shaping up. The Derby is very hard to handicap at the best of times, but this year is shaping up to be even more difficult than normal. Every top contender either has a glaring problem or a poor performance that needs to be explained away. A big part of the problem this year are the synthetic tracks - the Derby is not run on one, but many of the key prep races were. We haven't been dealing with the new surfaces long enough to know just how well horses react to them, or what kind of horses will transfer best from the fake surface to a real one.
Read more about Kentucky Derby Contenders.
Kentucky Derby Party -- Infield or Clubhouse: A Kentuckian's Advice on Throwing a Derby Bash
by Kaelan Hollon
Staring down the long, cold barrel of a Kentucky State Trooper's handgun at 2:49 in the morning in the first weekend of May is not a fun way to bide time. Kentucky takes its horses very, very seriously, and attempting to hop on a $120,000 thoroughbred during one's stay in the Bluegrass State does not a good Derby Day make, as a friend of mine recently found out. Handcuffs hurt. And the jails in the Commonwealth? Let me tell you something, Bubba, they ain't a bit of fun.
Read more about Kentucky Derby party.
Kentucky Derby Betting Tips
by Trevor Whenham
The Kentucky Derby won't be here for several weeks, but I'm already dreaming of cashing a big ticket, and I'm sure I'm not alone in those thoughts. In my mind nothing is more exciting than the Derby, and the lead up and anticipation is almost too much to take. It's way too early to do any serious handicapping because we won't have a good idea of the field for several weeks. What we can do, though, is put some thought into our methodology so that we're ready to make a logical pick when the time comes. Here, then, are seven tips and thoughts that you can let bounce around your mind until the real handicapping can begin:
Read more about Kentucky Derby Betting Tips.