The Road to the Kentucky Derby continues Saturday, February 11 in the El Camino Real Derby! The 1 ⅛-mile race over the Tapeta surface at Golden Gate Fields always draws an eclectic mix of proven synthetic-track runners and dirt horses from downstate. This makes it an excellent betting horse race!
The El Camino Real Derby offers a $100,000 purse, 10-4-3-2-1 Road to the Kentucky Derby points, and a free berth to the Preakness for its winner! The race has a strong history of producing Preakness contenders: Rombauer (2021) was the most recent to sweep that double, and Tank’s Prospect (1985), Snow Chief (1986), and Tabasco Cat (1994) did it too. Tabasco Cat even won the Belmont, too!
Keep reading to find out who will advance down the road to the Triple Crown, and to see the best places for Florida horseplayers to bet the race online!
Before you start handicapping the El Camino Real Derby, make sure to sign up for a top online racebook in Florida. All of our recommended sportsbooks have been reviewed by experts, and all of them offer great user interfaces, trusted cash-outs, and market-leading odds on horse races across the country. Let their reviews help you make an informed choice quickly!
All of our recommended sites also offer great racebook bonuses that you will never find at the track. These include rebates, deposit and sign-up bonuses, and even referral incentives. Find out which bonuses suit your wagering style the best, and get ready to enjoy hundreds or even thousands of dollars in cash or free wagers!
These are the best wagering sites for Florida-based horseplayers:
Now that you have set up your wagering account, it is time to meet the contendersfor the race and start picking a winner!
These are the likely contenders for the 2023 El Camino Real Derby including their trainers:
Jockey assignments, morning-line odds, and post positions will be released closer to the race. However, the morning line odds will only be the track’s estimate of what the prices on horses will be; the final price on track will not be set until post time. Fortunately, there is a better way to bet.
Online racebooks offer fixed-odds betting on major horse races. This means you can lock in your odds the moment you wager. That way, if you see an overlay on a horse, you will be able to get that price no matter how odds fluctuate on race day.
Passarando was third in the Cal Cup Derby last out, but gets back to Northern California and gets back to his preferred Tapeta surface for this race. He has done his best work over the surface, and his versatile off-pace style means he should be able to carve out a good trip behind the lively early speed in front of him. And, his pedigree appeals strongly for nine furlongs.
Since trainer Bob Baffert has won two of the last three editions of this race, it makes sense to look who he sends. Though Nullarbor seems outclassed after racing for a tag last out, Gilmore has a lot of upside. He woke up nicely when stretching out to two turns at Los Alamitos on December 10, and won from off the pace after some early trouble. Furthermore, his sire Twirling Candy is a strong synthetic influence.
Take a stand against Thirsty John, however. Trained by another prodigious Southern California trainer in Peter Miller, Thirsty John will be part of that lively front-end brigade and may have to do too much to hold on late. Furthermore, his pedigree skews more toward dirt than it does all-weather.
The public ignored Chase the Chaos two back in the Gold Rush to the tune of 65-1, but he finished a good second to Passarando and then franked that with a 7 ½-length romp in an allowance at Golden Gate. His running style of rallying from midpack should afford him the right trip in the El Camino Real, and the Uncle Mo on bottom allays distance concerns from Astern on top.
Even though Happy Does was the distant second-place finisher in Chase the Chaos’s allowance win, he has started one more time since and won a Golden Gate allowance in game fashion. He still needs to move forward from that to be a win candidate, but he is consistent on Tapeta and his usual effort ought to be good enough to have him keep chasing from off the pace and get a piece.
Among the speed brigade, Harcyn still has enough upside to consider for a piece. He handled a contested pace when winning his debut. And, though he has yet to try a two-turn trip, his pedigree is solid for it. He is by Goldencents, a sire whose babies stretch out if there’s stamina on bottom – and his dam is a Street Cry half to Giacomo and Tiago, so lots of stamina there.
You have created your online racebook account and gotten to know the contenders. Now, it’s time for the fun part: making that wager! Here are the best bets for Saturday’s 2023 El Camino Real Derby:
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