Flower Bowl Stakes Day at Belmont Park

My annual analysis of the top contenders to try and select a winner by matching each to the profile of a Kentucky Derby winner using many of the more popular angles and statistical trends. This year there were no ties for the top two spots, although there were many other ties among the rest.

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Grasshopper, second-place finisher in the Travers to Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense, was made the even-money favorite for Saturday’s $500,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs. Nine other 3-year-olds were entered for the Grade 2 race, at 1 1/8 miles. In his first stakes try at Saratoga on Aug. 25, Grasshopper battled Street Sense on the lead for much of the 1 1/4-mile Travers before losing by a…

Irish-trained horses look set to repeat last year’s dominance of the Grand National as they were given the top five weights for the famous marathon steeplechase at Aintree, Liverpool on April 8. Five of last year’s top six finishers were trained in Ireland and the weights for April’s race announced on Tuesday contains 20 horses trained in the country out of the top 40 entries — the maximum runners allowed — on the list. Michael O’Leary’s Gigginstown House Stud won with Rule The World last year and the businessman appears intent on staging a repeat with 12 of his 16 entries on the 109-horse list guaranteed a run if trainer Gordon Elliot opts to race them.

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