Dick Jerardi

I think we have a very evenly matched field with a lot of very consistent horses who have been given good performances all of 2026.

But what we don't have is, say, like a huge standout like Justify or

in 2018 or American Pharaoh in 2015 horses that went on to win the triple crown, but a lot of promise, a very good betting race, uh, renegade the favorite at bet online.ag at the moment, it's five to one, but you could make a case for, I don't know, half a dozen, eight horses to possibly win the race.

Yeah.

I think all of those things are true.

And it happened just last year with sovereignty, right?

He had run second in the Florida Derby.

He had shown promise.

But then he absolutely blew up at the Kentucky Derby.

And, of course, he went on to win the Belmont Stakes, and he won the Travers, and he was the 2025 Horse of the Year.

So, yeah, that could absolutely happen on Saturday, that some horse that's been good just goes from good to great because it's like the trainer is getting him ready for that one huge race.

And they don't race that much anymore, so it's not as clear.

Back in the day, they'd race 10, 12 times before the Derby.

They have a much better picture than we do now.

No question.

And the Japanese owned and bred horses have proven over the last,

say half a dozen years, even going back a decade, that they can compete around the world.

Forever Young finished a very close third in the Derby two years ago, and he could make a pretty good case that he was the best horse in the race, a little unlucky.

Well, he's gone on to win over $30 million, which is the most of any horse in history.

He came back to the U.S., won the Breeders' Cup last year at Del Mar.