Bodemeister (Opening odds: 4-1)
Jockey Mike Smith rides Bodemeister to win the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park during the Racing Festival of The South on April 14, 2012 in Hot Springs, Arkansas.
/ Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images(CBS/AP) The 4-1 morning-line favorite is trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert. While the trainer is recovering from a heart attack, his bay colt comes into the Derby off an eye-opening, wire-to-wire 9 1/2-length romp in the Arkansas Derby. Expect the bay colt to be on or close to the lead from the get-go under jockey Mike Smith. Bodemeister will break from the No. 6 gate. The Hall of Fame rider won the 2005 Derby aboard 50-1 shot Giacomo. The colt is named for Baffert's 7-year-old son, Bode, who is named for skier Bode Miller.
It's the third time the Hall of Fame trainer has had the early Derby favorite. The first two didn't work out. Lookin At Lucky drew the inside post in 2010, got trapped along the rail and finished sixth. In 2001, Point Given was the heavy favorite and wound up fifth. He went on to win the Preakness and Belmont stakes, the final two legs of the Triple Crown.
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"At least we're in a position where we have a good chance of winning," Baffert said. "If I got the one-hole I would be thinking they just don't want me to win this Derby. After Lookin At Lucky, when he got the one-hole, the excitement just left me because I knew he had too much to overcome."
Baffert had a heart attack on March 26 in Dubai. "I just hope I have a chance to get my heart rate going turning for home," said Baffert, whose War Emblem was the last wire-to-wire Derby winner in 2002.
2012 Kentucky Derby
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- My pick is "I'll Have Another" - both in the race and when it comes to the Mint Juleps. But Is the Mint Julep the "Peeps" of cocktails? "Think about it. They're booth sickeningly-sweet, consumed on only one day of the year and then actively avoided for the remaining 364. You be the judge. Here are my four favorite vintage Mint Julep recipes: http://thevodkaparty.com/the-mint-julep-is-it-the-peeps-of-cocktails/
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