Louisiana Derby Odds & Betting Preview: Enforceable +350 Favorite

• Despite most sports not playing, horse racing is running strong
• The $1 million Louisiana Derby has a strong and deep field
• If you are looking for a price, the Louisiana Derby may produce one

While there are no crowds for most horse races these days, unlike other sports thoroughbreds are running, and wagering is encouraged.

Saturday’s Louisiana Derby is normally considered a prep race for the Kentucky Derby. The points that allow you to qualify for the Run for the Roses remain, but instead of being six weeks from the main event, we are months away from the pomp and circumstance in Louisville.

As individual betting races go, the Louisiana Derby is a dandy. There is no enormous favorite, a full field is entered, and you can make a case for the majority of the entrants. For the first time this year, the Louisiana Derby is being run at a-mile-and-three-sixteenths. It will be the longest-running of the event since it began in 1894. The Kentucky Derby is a-mile-and-a-quarter.

Let’s look at the field and consider our preferences.

2020 Louisiana Derby Odds

Odds taken Mar. 19

Favorite: Enforceable

On February 15 two divisions of the Risen Star Stakes were run. The faster of the two heats was captured by Mr. Monomoy, who is now injured. Enforceable ran second, at 3/1, just ahead of the mild favorite Silver State.

Enforceable won January’s Lecomte Stakes, after finishing third and fourth in graded stakes in Kentucky to close out 2019. The John Oxley owned and Mark Casse trained son of Tapit needed four races to break his maiden, but did so in style at Saratoga in August.

Top Contenders: Modernist and Wells Bayou

The slower version of the Risen Star was captured by Modernist. He scored at 12/1 on the lead over several horses competing today including Major Fed, NY Traffic, and Mailman Money.

Modernist entered the Risen Star off a maiden score at Aqueduct. He made his debut in late September for Hall of Fame trainer Bill Mott.

Wells Bayou won his debut in October at Keeneland before finishing up the track in an optional allowance/claiming race at Churchill Downs in November. He returned to the track and beat a similar group of horses at Oaklawn Park in January. Last month he was a game second at the Southwest Stakes.

Trained by Brad Cox, Wells Bayou’s dad, Lookin at Lucky was the Kentucky Derby favorite in 2010. While he finished sixth, he rebounded to win the Preakness Stakes.

Longshot: Royal Act

In recent years the best horses have trained in California. A West Coast invader, Royal Act was impressive in his dirt debut at Santa Anita Park in the grade three Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February.

The son of Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, he won in his debut, on the turf at Del Mar in November, and finished second on the lawn in the Eddie Logan Stakes at Santa Anita in late December. Thus far he has liked more distance, and the dirt seemed to suit him well.

The Bet: Royal Act

The horses who have run locally are fine or good but not overly impressive and a little bit hard to decipher. Getting a price with a horse shipping into town, perhaps from a well-regarded circuit, Wells Bayou or Royal Act seems wise. Honestly, if you like a price in this one, play it. The chance for a good score is out there.