Joe Talamo hopes for successful Kentucky Derby trip

Horseracing Betting Lines

04/07/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jockey Joe Talamo thought he had the horse to beat in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. The young rider had the mount aboard Run for the Roses favorite I Want Revenge.

Trained by Jeff Mullins, I Want Revenge came into the Kentucky Derby off a solid victory in the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct. He was made the 3-1 morning- line favorite for the 135th Run for the Roses.

However, Talamo never got a chance to compete for the roses. I Want Revenge was scratched that Saturday morning with an injury of his left front ankle. The colt has not run since.

Now Talamo has a mount on one of the favorites for this year's Kentucky Derby. The 20-year-old rider is the jockey for Santa Anita Derby winner Sidney's Candy.

"To have a horse in the Kentucky Derby, any kind of horse, is a tremendous feat," Talamo said after the win last Saturday. "I feel very honored and blessed just to make it back this year, after what happened last year. We'll see how good he is in the Derby, but the way he handled himself today was unbelievable. He relaxes so well and he does things three-year olds don't do."

Trained by John Sadler, Sidney's Candy will be making his first start on real dirt at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May. Along with the Santa Anita Derby victory, the colt has wins this year in the San Vicente and San Felipe Stakes.

"I don't think he's going to have a problem," Sadler said. "He's a good horse."

Sadler plans to leave California on Monday, April 12 headed toward Louisville.

Talamo has been the only rider Sidney's Candy has had in his six race career.

"He works the horse, we like him, and he just happened to be in the right place at the right time," Sadler said about the young jockey.

The expected Kentucky Derby favorite is again the Wood Memorial champ. Eskendereya, trained by Todd Pletcher, posted a 9 3/4-length victory last Saturday at Aqueduct. He was returned to Florida before heading to Kentucky.

"We'll just try to keep him happy," said Pletcher. "We'll keep doing what we have been doing."

Lookin At Lucky's troubled trip in the Santa Anita Derby, where he finished third, probably won't be reflected in the Kentucky Derby odds. The 2009 champion two-year-old colt may well be second in the morning-line behind Eskendereya.

"Lookin At Lucky looks fantastic today," said trainer Bob Baffert on Sunday. "He's happy, so that's good. He leaves on the 12th (for Churchill Downs) and yeah, (Garrett) Gomez will ride him back.

"Garrett came by the barn this morning and we talked things over. I didn't like where the horse was the first 100 yards, but I should have told Garrett exactly what to do. I just left it up to him and I messed it up.

"In the Rebel (Stakes on March 13), he was really knocked out after the race. But this is the best the horse has ever come out of a race. He was ice cold and he was bouncing. We learned a lot about the horse that will really help his chances in the Derby. We got beat by a very nice horse, and you can't make any mistakes against a horse like that. We're not the favorite (for the Derby) anymore. We've dropped down a few notches."

Along with Sidney's Candy, another speed horse headed to the Kentucky Derby is Illinois Derby winner American Lion.

"There is only one Derby and we plan on being there," said the colt's trainer Eoin Harty. " I think we needed to get a race over the dirt and fortunately he responded well to it. I have had three Kentucky Derby horses, all Tiznow runners and this is another one that looks to be headed in the right direction."

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.