LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Horse racing could be in line for another Triple Crown bid and this time the likely candidate is an undefeated horse from a barn other than Bob Baffert’s.
Essential Quality brings the most impressive resume into the 1 1/4-mile Derby on Saturday. No surprise, then, that he’s the early 2-1 favorite in a full field of 20 horses.
Baffert says the Derby is Essential Quality’s to lose and he should know. The trainer guided American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 to sweeps of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.