{"id":101984,"date":"2019-04-02T18:50:13","date_gmt":"2019-04-03T01:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?p=101984"},"modified":"2019-04-02T18:53:34","modified_gmt":"2019-04-03T01:53:34","slug":"kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/","title":{"rendered":"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait, as Favorites Falter in Prep Races"},"content":{"rendered":"

March ended up not being a good month to be a betting favorite on the Kentucky Derby trail<\/a>.\u00a0Nine Derby preps — counting each division of the Rebel separately — were run in the US last month. In those races, only one race-time favorite ended up winning.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Jockey Luis Saez rode Maximum Security (right) to a win in Saturday\u2019s Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Jason Servis, the colt\u2019s trainer, praised Saez for handling the horse perfectly as he led from the start and won going away. (Image: Matthew Stockman\/Getty)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Unfortunately for Somelikeithotbrown, his win in Turfway\u2019s Jeff Ruby Steaks only netted him 20 qualifying points and puts him 21st\u00a0in the current standings for a race where 20 horses will run.<\/p>\n

Maximum Excitement<\/h2>\n

Saturday at Gulfstream Park<\/a>, that trend continued, as Maximum Security won going wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby. While unbeaten in his three previous races, the Jason Servis-trained colt never went longer seven furlongs before entering the 1-1\/8-mile prep race.<\/p>\n

Yet, jockey Luis Saez kept the colt in a lower gear until the final turn, and none of the Kentucky Derby contenders could fire up as Maximum Security pulled away for a three-and-a-half length win.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuis walked the dog,\u201d Servis told gathered media post-race. \u201cHe backed them up. I have to give him credit. I think it had a lot to do with it. I\u2019m not downgrading the horse, but Luis did a great job.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Now, with 100 qualifying points, Maximum Security earned a spot in next month\u2019s Kentucky Derby. Code of Honor finished third, with his 20 points bumping him to 74 points. That all but secures a spot for the Shug McGaughey-trained colt as well.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Bourbon War, a co-favorite with Hidden Scroll, finished fourth to get 10 points. Trained by Mark Hennig, the colt now has 31 points, putting him 15th\u00a0in the standings. But with four 100-40-20-10 Derby preps remaining, Bourbon War may still find himself on the outside looking in.<\/p>\n

Betting Heats Up<\/h2>\n

On Friday at William Hill, you could get Maximum Security at 35-1 in the Derby Futures pool. After his win on Saturday, he became the co-favorite in the betting on Sunday, tied at 4-1 with Game Winner. At USRacing.com, he went from 100-1 on Thursday to 10-1 on Monday.<\/strong><\/p>\n

USRacing features Game Winner at 3-1.<\/p>\n

Code of Honor remained at 8-1 at William Hill, and he dropped slightly from 15-1 to 14-1 at USRacing. Bourbon War, meanwhile, went from 12-1 to 18-1 at William Hill and stayed at 25-1 on USRacing.<\/p>\n

On Sunday, Hennig said Bourbon War won\u2019t run in another prep.<\/p>\n

We\u2019d love to be able to get into the Kentucky Derby on points,\u201d <\/strong>Hennig said. \u201cIf we [have enough] points we\u2019d be confident going forward because he\u2019s a horse you\u2019d like to think leaving here would be good for him to get off a track where it\u2019s hard to close.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

UAE Winner Still Considered Long Shot<\/h2>\n

Another 100-point prep race ran on Saturday, and Plus Que Parfait (pronounced “ploos-kuh-parFAY,” which translates from French to “More Than Perfect”) went halfway around the world to get his spot in the Run for the Roses. Trainer Brendan Walsh moved him to Dubai after he failed to get any qualifying points in two stakes races at Fair Grounds Race Course.<\/p>\n

The colt won the UAE Derby thanks to an expert ride by jockey Jose Ortiz.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was running well and around the turn I was trying to find spaces,\u201d Ortiz said. \u201cI was happy that I saved the whole ground in the race. And when I was able to find a way through, he responded really well.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Plus Que Parfait now has more qualifying points than any other Kentucky Derby contender, bettors remain skeptical. He dropped from 100-1 to 40-1 at William Hill, but at USRacing, he remained at 125-1.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

March ended up not being a good month to be a betting favorite on the Kentucky Derby trail.\u00a0Nine Derby preps — counting each division of the Rebel separately — were run in the US last month. In those races, only one race-time favorite ended up winning. Unfortunately for Somelikeithotbrown, his win in Turfway\u2019s Jeff Ruby […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":45,"featured_media":101986,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14577,1074],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Two colts earned spots in the May 4 Kentucky Derby thanks to their wins in prep races on Saturday. Maximum Security went wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby, while Plus Que Parfait went halfway around the world to earn his in Dubai.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Two colts earned spots in the May 4 Kentucky Derby thanks to their wins in prep races on Saturday. Maximum Security went wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby, while Plus Que Parfait went halfway around the world to earn his in Dubai.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Casino.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-04-03T01:50:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-04-03T01:53:34+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Casino_Org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Steve Bittenbender\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/\",\"name\":\"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-04-03T01:50:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-04-03T01:53:34+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\"},\"description\":\"Two colts earned spots in the May 4 Kentucky Derby thanks to their wins in prep races on Saturday. Maximum Security went wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby, while Plus Que Parfait went halfway around the world to earn his in Dubai.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg\",\"width\":2000,\"height\":1125,\"caption\":\"Jockey Luis Saez rode Maximum Security to a win in Saturday\u2019s Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Jason Servis, the colt\u2019s trainer, praised Saez for handling the horse perfectly as he led from the start and won going away. (Image: Matthew Stockman\/Getty)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"News\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Sports Betting\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Horse Racing\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/horse-racing\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":4,\"name\":\"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait, as Favorites Falter in Prep Races\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Casino.org\",\"description\":\"Latest Casino and Gaming News\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2\",\"name\":\"Steve Bittenbender\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Steve Bittenbender\"},\"description\":\"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait","description":"Two colts earned spots in the May 4 Kentucky Derby thanks to their wins in prep races on Saturday. Maximum Security went wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby, while Plus Que Parfait went halfway around the world to earn his in Dubai.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait","og_description":"Two colts earned spots in the May 4 Kentucky Derby thanks to their wins in prep races on Saturday. Maximum Security went wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby, while Plus Que Parfait went halfway around the world to earn his in Dubai.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/","og_site_name":"Casino.org","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Casino.OrgNews","article_published_time":"2019-04-03T01:50:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-04-03T01:53:34+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2000,"height":1125,"url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Steve Bittenbender","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@Casino_Org","twitter_site":"@Casino_Org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Steve Bittenbender","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/","name":"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg","datePublished":"2019-04-03T01:50:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-04-03T01:53:34+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2"},"description":"Two colts earned spots in the May 4 Kentucky Derby thanks to their wins in prep races on Saturday. Maximum Security went wire-to-wire in the Florida Derby, while Plus Que Parfait went halfway around the world to earn his in Dubai.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/Maximum-Security-Florida-Derby.jpg","width":2000,"height":1125,"caption":"Jockey Luis Saez rode Maximum Security to a win in Saturday\u2019s Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park. Jason Servis, the colt\u2019s trainer, praised Saez for handling the horse perfectly as he led from the start and won going away. (Image: Matthew Stockman\/Getty)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/kentucky-derby-spots-scored-by-maximum-security-plus-que-parfait\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"News","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Sports Betting","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Horse Racing","item":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/sportsbetting\/horse-racing\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"Kentucky Derby Spots Scored by Maximum Security, Plus Que Parfait, as Favorites Falter in Prep Races"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/","name":"Casino.org","description":"Latest Casino and Gaming News","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/eb30e765d812fc9b38b333f8d13068b2","name":"Steve Bittenbender","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/cropped-7-1-96x96.png","caption":"Steve Bittenbender"},"description":"Steve Bittenbender covers Midwest and Gulport news for Casino.org. He also specializes in sports betting and horse racing. Steve is a veteran reporter and brings more than two decades of experience covering sports, business and politics. He joined Casino.org in 2019. Steve has also covered major collegiate and professional sports for the Associated Press and the Louisville Courier-Journal and is frequently featured on local network TV newscasts and podcasts for his horse racing business and legislative expertise. A Reuters contributor, he has also previously served as editor for Government Security News. Steve lives in Louisville, Kentucky -- the epicenter of the US horse racing industry -- with his wife and son. He is also an avid poker player, having learned from his uncle as a wholesome after-school pastime with cookies and milk. Contact Steve at stevebittenbender@casino.org.","url":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/author\/steve-bittenbender\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101984"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/45"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101986"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.casino.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}