Churchill Juveniles Top Early Kentucky Derby and Oaks Lists

The theme of my second Kentucky Derby and Oaks top 10 lists is "go with what you know", and after spending a lot of time handicapping the racing at Churchill Downs this year, I've been impressed enough with the two-year-olds there to pump them up well ahead of the 2019 Kentucky Derby and Oaks.

On the male side of things, I'll be stubborn with Nitrous off a troubled debut and keep him on top while adding the horse who beat him--Strike Dancer--in the third slot. Fluminense and Tight Ten are two other Steve Asmussen trainees debuting in the top 7 off strong debut runs. Speaking of strong debuts from the barn of a Racing Hall of Fame trainer, Instagrand drops in at number 6 for Jerry Hollendorfer while future Hall of Fame inductee Todd Pletcher is represented by #5 La Fuerza off a strong New York-bred victory.

For the fillies, Restless Rider was super impressive in winning the Debutante, but I couldn't resist sticking Somewhere on top of her because the Quality Road filly is out of the Najran mare Silver Lullaby, which makes her from the family of Million Stars, a Hennessy who captured my imagination when winning her career debut sprinting on turf in 2002 at Ellis Park but never raced again. The family includes a French classic winner and lots of turf wins, so Somewhere is worth watching from a development standpoint.