Expert Pick of the Week: 2022 Louisiana Derby

Mar 24, 2022 John Mucciolo/TwinSpires.com

An excellent field of nine sophomores will travel 1 3/16 miles over the Fair Grounds main surface in Saturday’s $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2). The 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby challenge series event will reward the top four finishers with qualifying points towards the Run for the Roses on May 7 on a 100-40-20-10 basis.

The race will go through the Steve Asmussen-trained Epicenter (7-2), who is expected to lead the cast from the early stages of the contest. Winchell Thoroughbreds' son of Not this Time has been sharp at the current meeting, and he comes in off of a facile triumph in the Risen Star S. (G2) on the oval. He is the Expert Pick of the Week.

Epicenter finished unplaced on debut but has made huge strides since that offering, winning three of his last four, with a head defeat in the Lecomte S. (G3) as his lone setback. The Kentucky-bred bay has an affinity for the course, evidenced by his Gun Runner S. romp and 2 3/4-length waltz last time out, and the bay has fired two bullet works as of late to be ready for Saturday, as well.

The $260,000 yearling purchase has a high cruising speed, and the way he finished in his nine-furlong bow most recently gives me a lot of confidence that he will prosper with the added ground in the Louisiana Derby. Joel Rosario will pilot the colt once again and likely put the standout three-year-old right on the lead soon after the break.

#9 Rattle N Roll (6-1), the 2021 Breeders’ Futurity (G1) victor at Keeneland, will show vast improvement in his second assignment of the season. Trained by Kenny McPeek, the talented son of Connect was a non-threatening sixth in the Fountain of Youth S. (G2) in his three-year-old debut, but he has trained well in the interim, and the chestnut will also race over an oval that is more conducive to his off-the-pace style. The stout late runner sizzled a bullet five-eighths at Gulfstream in his latest morning move and seems poised to be a late presence in the tilt despite drawing the outside post. Brian Hernandez Jr. retains the mount atop the Kentucky-bred.

An exacta with #6 Epicenter on top of #9 Rattle N Roll in the Louisiana Derby is the Best Bet of the Week.