Welcome to the Kentucky Derby prep race schedules and results page. Here you will find the current derby prep race schedules and results for the 2007 and 2008 horse racing season. Each Kentucky Derby prep race is broken down by; grade, track, distance, time and speed with finishing race positions.

Derby Prep Race Key

Breeders Cup Betting

The 2007 Breeders’ Cup gets underway on Friday, October 26th with three races and continues on Saturday, October 27th with 8 races.  The feature race is the final race on Saturday, the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Lawyer Ron was made the 5-2 favorite while Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense and Preakness winner Curlin were the 3-1 second choices.  The Classic will have a nine horse field and could prove to be the best race of the year.  Any Given Saturday is the 4-1 fourth choice followed by Hard Spun at 8-1, Tiago at 12-1, Diamond Stripes at 15-1, George Washington at 20-1 and Awesome Gem at 20-1.

Lawyer Ron is the favorite even though he will be starting from the rail.  Street Sense has the #2 post.  Any Given Saturday is in post #3 with Curlin on his outside in post position #4.  George Washington starts in position #5 followed by Awesome Glen in post position #6, Diamond Stripes #7, Hard Spun #8 and Tiago #9.

Breeders Cup betting gets underway on Friday with the Filly & Mare Sprint with Dream Rush the 2-1 favorite.  La Traviata is the close second choice at 5-2.  The Juvenile Turf has Prussian as the 3-1 horse betting favorite. Achill Island is the 7-2 second choice.  The Dirt Mile is the other race on Friday and it has Discreet Cat as the 2-1 prohibitive favorite.

Saturday’s action begins with the Juvenile Fillies where Indian Blessing is the 3-1 favorite.  The Juvenile has War Pass as the 5-2 favorite while Tale of Ekati is the 7-2 second choice.  Nashoba’s Key is the 3-1 favorite in the Filly & Mare Turf although this race could easily see one of four horses go off as the favorite.  Passage of Time is 7-2, Honey Ryder is 9-2 and Wait a While is 4-1.  Midnight Lute is the 2-1 solid favorite in the Sprint.  Excellent Art is the 3-1 favorite in the Mile with After Market the close 7-2 second choice.  Indian Vale is the 3-1 favorite in the Distaff with Ginger Punch the 7-2 second choice.  The biggest morning line favorite in the Breeders’ Cup is Dylan Thomas who is 7-5 in the Turf.

Breeders Cup Wagering

141 horses were pre-entered for this year’s Breeders’ Cup that will be held October 26th and 27th at Monmouth Park in New Jersey.  The $5 Million dollar Breeders’ Cup Classic will have a total of 8 or 9 runners in the field including Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, Preakness winner Curlin, Any Given Saturday, Hard Spun, Tiago, top older horse Lawyer Ron, and the international star horse, George Washington.

The 2007 Breeders’ Cup has a total of 11 races, three on Friday and eight on Saturday.  The three new races on Friday are the Filly and Mare Sprint, Juvenile Turf, and Dirt Mile.  The Saturday races have the Juvenile Fillies, Juvenile, Filly and Mare Turf, Sprint, Mile, Distaff, Turf and the Classic.  The Classic has many of the top horses in the country and in addition to the seven horses already listed includes Awesome Gem and Diamond Stripes.

Of the 141 horses pre-entered, 19 were cross-entered, for a total of 160 entries in 11 races. Next Tuesday, final entries are due and post positions will be drawn for all 11 races.  The fields are limited to 14 horses with the exception of the Juvenile Turf which can have only 12.

Breeders Cup Betting

This year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic has such a strong group of contenders that trainers of horses on the fringe are not going to enter their horses in the race.  The maximum amount of horses for the Classic is 14 but the field will not be anywhere near that large.

The top six contenders look powerful.  Street Sense, Any Given Saturday, Curlin, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron, and Tiago are all excellent horses and many trainers want no part of going up against them. "I'm going to pre-enter in the Classic and the Dirt Mile to keep my options open, bide my time, see how it unfolds," trainer Richard Dutrow Jr. said,  "If it comes up wet, and a couple of the top horses come up with issues and don't run, that might move me up." Dutrow has Diamond Stripes but the horse may be focused elsewhere. "I don't want to go head's up with all those horses in the Classic if they all run," Dutrow said.

Several other horses like Grasshopper, Political Force, and Timber Reserve will also not be part of the Classic. Grasshopper who was second in the Travers Stakes is "going to be given the rest of the season off," according to trainer Neil Howard. Political Force was retired and Timber Reserve is injured.

In other Breeders’ Cup news, Preakness winner Curlin is training at Keeneland. Trainer Steve Asmussen said "He's going to work next Monday, then the Monday of Breeders' Cup week. That's why he's training at Keeneland, because it is a perfect world. We don't have to worry about the weather. We can make a schedule and stick to it."