It’s a week later than expected, but the top two contenders for this year’s Kentucky Derby will finally thumped the track.

Game Winner,( seen here in November, where “hes taken” residence the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile ), is the 4-5 favorite in the second heat of the Rebel Stakes on Saturday. Oaklawn Racing and Gaming will host 19 colts for the Kentucky Derby prep scoot, which will be run in two hots.( Persona: Coady Photography)

Even though Game Winner and Improbable won’t face each other, the work requires grade as one of the most exciting weekends leading up to the Derby itself. The colts, both of whom are trained by Bob Baffert, will make their 2019 entries in the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Racing and Gaming in Hot spring, Arkansas, and they’re returning company.

The two colts were supposed to scoot in last weekend’s San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita, but the race was canceled after officials at the California track suspended racing because more than 20 colts have died there since December.

With several horses in need of a scoot to acquire qualifying degrees for the May 4 Derby, Oaklawn officials offered to run the 1-1/ 16 th-mile hasten in two heats, if enough colts were opened. The winner of each heat will deserve 37.5 stations apiece.

In all, 19 horses are scheduled to run Saturday evening. Fanciful is the 3-5 morning-line favourite in the first leg, which features nine horses, while Game Winner starts at 4-5 in the second.

“They’re becoming be tough, those preps, ” Baffert said. “It will be tough to win one. We’ll see what happens.”

Galilean Prime Contender Against Improbable

Improbable — who triumphed all three of his races as a 2-year-old — last-place raced in December. His primary contender are expected to be Galilean. The Jerry Hollendorfer-trained colt has prevailed three of his four races, including last month’s California Cup Derby by 4-1/ 2 sections at Santa Anita.

“He’s a very good expectation for us going on, ” Hollendorfer said. “We especially like the last race that he had. We thought that he extended a very good race.”

Galilean, with morning-line quirkies of 3-1, gleaned the eighth pole, just inside of Improbable, who will start from the outside.

A possible evaluate pick is Long Range Toddy, which is able to scoot from the second door. With 10 -1 morning-line peculiars, the Steven Asmussen-trained colt has extended twice at Oaklawn once and finished third in last-place month’s Southwest Stakes.

First Race for Game Winner Since November

Game Winner, who like his stablemate finished last weekend’s round of Churchill Downs’ Derby futures gambling at 6-1, last-place scooted in November, participating in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Last year’s champion two-year-old earned all four of his starts.

His top competition will likely be Omaha Beach, who constitutes his stakes debut on Saturday. He’s placed in the money in all five of his scoots, finally triumphing on Feb. 2 a seven-furlong hasten for damsels by nine spans at Santa Anita.

The morning-line odds for Omaha Beach were set at 7-2.

Game Winner will start from the fifth gate on Saturday, next to Omaha Beach, who attracted sixth.

Hollendorfer might have the significance excerpt during the second leg with Gunmetal Gray coming from the eighth entrance with 10 -1 odds.

After resolving last year with a disappointing fifth-place finish in the Juvenile, Gunmetal Gray has finished in the top two in two stakes scoots at Santa Anita. He won the Sham in January for his first bets victory.

Both Rebel Stakes hastens will air on Fox Sports 2 Saturday, with coverage starting at 5 pm ET.

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