Joe Nevills, sales editor for the Daily Racing Form and columnist for Arabian Finish Line, analyzes the 2018 Kentucky Derby field in the form of Haiku; a Japanese poem of 17 syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five.
#1 - Firenze Fire
Dinked and dunked for points
One turn appears his best fit
This is not his race
#2 - Free Drop Billy
Hard to get too jazzed
When a four-length margin is
Closest loss this year
#3 - Promises Fulfilled
The front of nothing
Still got him nothing last out
A tiring rival
#4 - Flameaway
Never ducks a fight
Prefer him in the Preakness
Love for the Queen's Plate
#5 - Audible
His resume's stout
But future glories could lie
Among the milers
#6 - Good Magic
The Eclipse winner
Did his job in the Blue Grass
Might need one more gear
#7 - Justify
Much-hyped wunderkind
Shrugged off the class jump with ease
Apollo's boots shake
#8 - Lone Sailor
Ran a lifetime best
Off optional claimer loss
Hard to picture it
#9 - Hofburg
Juddmonte Farms doesn't
Mess around breeding cheap speed
If not here, Belmont
#10 - My Boy Jack
The field's deep closer
In tough when the race's best
Have high cruising speeds
#11 - Bolt d'Oro
A stark lack of love
For a two-race hundred-plus
Beyer figure streak
#12 - Enticed
Truly blue-blooded
Sleeper vibes if you forgive
Bumpy Big A trip
#13 - Bravazo
Methinks the truth leans
Toward his ugly last effort
Than Risen Star shock
#14 - Mendelssohn
Top-dollar prospect
Harangued by travel headaches
Ceiling's still sky-high
#15 - Instilled Regard
Survived the bubble
He was there for a reason
Little momentum
#16 - Magnum Moon
Tallied the most points
Showed true colors at Oaklawn
Still a shade of green
#17 - Solomini
Never off the board
But has a nose for trouble
Can't have that luck here
#18 - Vino Rosso
Topped Wood like a pro
Collmus likes saying his name
Could be Todd's third string
#19 - Noble Indy
Not much to pick at
But not enough to enthrall
Keep low on tickets
#20 - Combatant
Always in the hunt
But enters the race seeking
His first stakes triumph
#21 AE - Blended Citizen
Summer potential
But he's just not fast enough
To challenge this field
Prediction
Down goes Apollo
The fervor is Justified
Then Bolt, 14, nine