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Kentucky Derby Betting: Flameaway is one of the most experienced horses in this field. The Kentucky Derby will be his 10th race, and it will be his seventh graded stakes race.
He won the first two races of his career, but then finished a disappointing sixth at his first graded stakes race. Flameaway just ran out of gas and posted a woeful speed rating. However, he was much better in his next race, winning the Dixiana Bourbon Stakes by a nose despite being bumped at the end.
That performance led to his owners entering him in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf, where he finished a disappointing eighth. Flameaway fared much better after returning to the East Coast, winning the Sam F. Davis Stakes over Catholic Boy and Vino Rosso.
In his last two races before the Derby, he grabbed second twice. Flameaway finished at length off of Quip at the Lambholm Derby and then finished runner-up to Good Magic at the Blue Grass Stakes.
The Kentucky Derby will go to post on Saturday, May 5, 2018 at 6:34 p.m. ET at Churchill Downs in Louisville. Catch the Kentucky Derby live on NBC.
Flameaway
Career Record: 5-2-0
Career Earnings: $704,834
Kentucky Derby Points: 70
Kentucky Derby Odds at BookMaker.eu: +3754
Flameaway has a great lineage. His sire is Scat Daddy, one of the most prolific studs of this decade, and his dam is Vulcan Rose. Vulcan Rose was sired by Fusaichi Pegasus, the winner of the 2000 Kentucky Derby.
Mark Casse is Flameaway’s trainer. This will be his sixth Derby appearance, and he has yet to hit the board. Casse saw his best finish yet last year when Classic Empire finished fourth.
Flameaway will be jockeyed by Jose Lezcano. This will also be Lezcano’s sixth Kentucky Derby, but he has fared a little bit better than Casse. He rode Ice Box to second in 2010.
Why Flameaway Will Win the Kentucky Derby
This horse has experience racing against some of the best three-year-olds in the country. While he only raced in one Grade 1 Stakes, he has faced good opponents in races with lesser stakes. He has finished first or second in seven of his nine starts, with the Juvenile Turf being his only poor finish of late.
Flameaway also has shown that he has the speed to win the derby. He posted a speed rating of 101 at the Sam F. Davis Stakes and is going to come out of the gate strong here.
Why Flameaway Won't Win the Kentucky Derby
He doesn’t have the finishing kick that the other contenders possess. Flameaway will likely need to put some distance between himself and the pack if he is going to win, and that’s improbable given this field.
Additionally, in his nine races, we have only seen him post a speed rating of more than 100 once. He has shown he can get there, but it’s not likely that he does.
The Final Verdict
You might be able to find some value in Flameaway, but this horse cannot draw an outside post position. He needs to be near the front at the first turn in order to have a chance, otherwise he’s toast.
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2018 Kentucky Derby Contenders