Review Of The 2009 Kentucky Derby

By Author: Kellen Sears
Total Articles: 381
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The 2009 Kentucky Derby was one of the most competitive races to happen in recent history. This was the 135th consecutive running of the race and it involved a $2 million purse. The Kentucky Derby was presented by Yum! Brands (Grade 1) and was held at Churchill Downs. It took place on Saturday, May 2, 2009 and the temperatures were cold and wet. The race was rated as sloppy because it rained the night before and a lack of hot temperatures left the race pretty wet for the start of the race.

As the race was about to start there were only 19 three year old colts that were lined up to give it a go. Quality Road had become defective before any entries were filled out and the favorite I Want Revenge ended up being scratched before the race began. This left the race open for any contender to take the purse. With a crowd of 153,563 at the track that morning, everyone waited in anticipation of what was to come.

Trainer Larry Jones' horse Friesan Fire was a 7-2 choice coming into the race and had won multiple other races including the Louisiana Derby. The 5-1 choice was Dunkirk who was trained by the famous Todd ...
... Pletcher. Pioneerof the Nile was the 6-1 third choice and was coming off a great track record of four consecutive wins. The rest of the bunch were led by the 10-1 Chocolate Candy.

The race began and Join the Dance jumped out of the gate and took the initial lead under the direction of jockey Chris DeCarlo. Regal Ransom came around to the outside and was close behind the leader. About two lengths back from the leader was Pioneer of the Nile who was struggling to keep up with the pace by staying in third place. The other favorites had fallen back quite a ways with Friesan Fire in seventh and Dunkirk clear back in tenth place.
As the pack entered into the final stretch, Join the Dance continued to hold onto the lead as they passed the mile marker but began to show signs of fatigue. At the 3/16 pole there was a changeup of leaders as Pioneerof the Nile moved into the lead. This all changed however when Mine that Bird ridden by Calvin Borel made his advance and overtook the lead to win by 6 3/4 lengths.

Mine that bird had sat in last place for almost the entire first 6 furlongs and had fallen back to almost 21 lengths behind the leader. It was on the turn where Mine that Bird made his move and took the inside to start passing up stragglers. When they reached the 1/8 pole, Mine that Bird and Calvin Borel found a small opening and took advantage of it to take the lead and held onto through the rest of the race. Pioneerof the Nile came in second while 19-1 Musket Man finished third. Dunkirk ended up finishing the race at eleventh place while Friesan Fire, who was the overall favorite, came in at 18th place.

AUTHOR:-
Kellen Sears writes reviews on various sporting events including the Kentucky Derby betting.In this piece of write up, the author highlights on online horse racing. The author also takes the readers thought on how to bet on horse racing.