Betting The Horses

In 2001, Mandella was inducted into the U.S. Racing Hall of Fame.  His credentials were hard to argue against, with more than 1,750 victories and six Breeder’s Cup wins.  In February he announced his intentions to have his colt Setsuko start in the Kentucky Derby.  If Setsuko is able to make it to the Derby and win it, it will give Mandella another bullet point for his résumé that has thus far eluded him: Kentucky Derby winner.

Setsuko has raced in 8 races and has never finished lower than fourth.  He ran in the Grade 3 Sham Stakes, finishing second, and the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, finishing second.  He is currently in 25th place on the graded stakes earnings list with $180,000.

He was impressive in his most recent race.  He was able to finish second in a strong field which included top contenders Lookin At Lucky and Sydney’s Candy.  He had a strong close after trailing for most of the race.

He is said to be bred strictly to compete on dirt.  He was sired by Pleasantly Perfect, winner of the 2003 Pacific Classic Stakes (G1) and 2003 Breeder’s Cup Classic (G1).  Both races were 1¼ miles.  The distance is one at which Setsuko excels at as well and he is as good a 1 ¼ mile horse as any of his competitors.

With graded stakes earnings that have him out of the top twenty, he will need horses ahead of him to drop out of the race in order to start in the Kentucky Derby.