Pennsylvania Derby 2017 Picks

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Last year, trainer Bob Baffert had Arrogate, a colt that missed the Triple Crown races, burst on the scene with a huge win in the Travers Stakes, and went on to win the 2016 Breeders' Cup Classic. This year, Baffert is hoping for a repeat with West Coast (8-5 favorite in Bovada's racebook), who also missed this year's Triple Crown and won the Travers.

He'll prep for the Classic in Saturday's Penn Derby. A winner of five of seven lifetime starts, with two runner-up finishes, West Coast has shown in his past four wins an ability to race on the lead or come from off the pace, and the thinking here is that jockey Mike Smith will go right the the front early and try to control the field before opening up as they turn for home. 

He'll likely be joined on the front end by a familiar face in Irish War Cry (9-2) a talented colt who has had a lot of mixed results lately since running poorly as the co-favorite in the Kentucky Derby. If Irish War Cry can produce one of his better efforts he should be in the frame as they approach the wire. The problem is that you never know what you're going to get with the Graham Motion trainee, which makes him a better play in the exotic wagers than as a straight win.

Another that may be tempted to push the pace breaking from the #1 gate is Timeline (5-1), who had won his first four lifetime starts, including a pair of Grade 3 wins, until catching a poor trip and finishing sixth most recently in the (G1) Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Expect a bounce back from that effort here.

Expected to be coming from off the pace, Irap (3-1) is the second choice in the odds for trainer Doug O'Neill. While he didn't want to go the full 1 1/4 miles last out in the Travers and was a distant third behind West Coast, prior to that he had dominated a fairly decent field in taking the (G3) Indiana Derby, and showed good determination to get up for the nose win three starts back in the (G3) Ohio Derby.   

The Pennsylvania Derby goes Saturday, Septemeber 23 from Parx Racing in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It's race #11 on the 12-race card and immediately follows the (G1) Cotillion Stakes, with a post time of 5:45 PM Eastern. You can bet the entire card of racing with one of our recommended racebooks.

Pennsylvania Derby Entries

1. Timeline (5-1)
2. Outplay (12-1)
3. Watch Me Whip (20-1)
4. West Coast (8-5)
5. Irap (3-1) 
6. Talk Logistics (20-1)
7. Game Over (15-1)
8. Irish War Cry (9-2) 
9. Term Of Art (20-1) 
10. Giuseppe The Great (20-1)  

Pennsylvania Derby Picks

• #4 - West Coast
• #1 - Timeline
• #8 - Irish War Cry
• #5 - Irap 
  

Category : Betting Picks

Tag : Horse Racing