Bagman's Picks for the 134th Kentucky Derby

Bagman's Derby Picks:

My picks for the Derby. I will have three bets for a total of $58.00

The first two of my bets are dedicated to and in honor of my Dad. I am going with a $1 exacta box keying on Pyro either winning or coming in 2nd. I am taking Pyro with the field. So that will be:

$1 exacta box of Pyro over ALL (Exacta box of # 9 over ALL) = $19.00
$1 exacta box of ALL over Pyro (Exacta box of ALL over # 9) = $19.00

I'm also going with a 5 horse $1 Exacta Box of 9-6-13-18-19 = $20.00

9 - Pyro
6- Z Fortune
13- Bob Black Jack
18-Recapturetheglory
19-Gayego

My Derby Picks:

For myself, I am going with the boring route of throwing some of the favorites into an exacta box. The favorites that I am taking are:

9 - Pyro
10 - Colonel John
20 - Big Brown

Of those 3, I like Pyro the most and he should return to early season form with his return to a dirt surface. Generally, I do not throw the favorite in the mix as it never tends to pay out well and they have a history of under performing at the Derby. However, since 2000, 3 of the favorites have gone on to win the Derby, (Fusaichi Pegasus in 2000, Smarty Jones in 2004 and Street Sense last year). In addition, Empire Maker finished 2nd in 2003. I am including Big Brown because this is going to be a slow field and with lots of rain over the past few days, the leaders will not get ahead of him enough to prevent him from being a factor.

My 4th horse in the mix is:
14 - Monba

Monba has a win at Churchill Downs and I think he has solid value at the 15-1 opening line.

Let's call this a $4 Exacta box with 9, 10, 14, and 20 for a total wager of $48.