Betting Picks

Twenty colts will be called to the post for the May 5 Kentucky Derby, but only one horse can win. Trying to figure out who that will be is the handicapper's challenge and the more information available, the better. So here's a look at top contender Noble Indy and what factors in his favor and what works against him to come out on top.

The Villanova Wildcats look like a team on a mission. They have steamrolled their way through the NCAA Tournament, winning five straight games by an average margin of 17.8 points per game, and have won every game by a double digits. Just West Virginia and Texas Tech were able to keep the Wildcats within 12 points. Only the Michigan Wolverines stand in the way of Villanova's second title in three years.

In an effort to get the pulse of what some of the country's horse racing experts in the media are thinking in regard to the contenders for the 2018 Kentucky Derby, the good folks at Horse Racing Nation have assembled a 25-person panel to conduct a weekly poll. After the first five weeks, here's a look at the current consensus and how things have changed.

Thirteen top fillies will take to the track at Gulfstream Park on Saturday afternoon for the running of the $300,000 (G2) Gulfstream Park Oaks. Run at 1 1/16 miles on the dirt track, the race is a qualifier for the 2018 Kentucky Oaks, and offers 100 qualifying points to the winner.

There's always an intriguing sub plot whenever the Minnesota Wild and Dallas Stars clash. From 1967-93, the Stars performed as the Minnesota North Stars, reaching the Stanley Cup final in 1981 and 1991, until abandoning the State of Hockey for the Big D, where they won the Stanley Cup in 1999. But there's a lingering bitterness among Minnesotans that they were forsaken for a non-traditional hockey market.

There's only one 2018 Kentucky Derby qualifying race this Saturday, but it's a big one. The $1 million (G1) Florida Derby from Gulfstream Park has drawn a field of nine entries, with four of those right now considered serious contenders to win the Run for the Roses on the first Saturday of May.

There's an 11 seed in the Final Four. Top teams have consistently been toppled throughout the tournament. And yet among all this madness of March, one of the four squads still in the hunt, still standing with a chance to win it all, is a team many predicted before it all started as a club that could win it all, the Villanova Wildcats. But they'll face a tough test against Kansas.

Charlotte may be in the heart of basketball country, but when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to town, they own the place. LeBron James and company are all abuzz whenever they play the Hornets. They've beaten Charlotte like and drum of late and won eight in a row. The last time Charlotte won successive games from the Cavaliers was in 2010-11, when they were they known as the Bobcats.

A full field of 11 three-year-old colts chasing the 2018 Kentucky Derby dream will take to the Sunland Park track on Sunday for the running of the (G3) $800,000 Sunland Park Derby. Run at 1 1/8 miles on the dirt, the race is a Kentucky Derby qualifier, offering 50 points to the winner.