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LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Sonneteer bucks long odds, and a lot of history, when he tries to post his first win in the toughest possible spot for a 3-year-old: the Kentucky Derby.
The colt is 0 for 10 coming in as a 50-1 outsider for the 1 ¼ mile race on Saturday at Churchill Downs.
The last Derby maiden winner was Brokers Tip in 1933.
It's a repeat trip to the Derby for the brothers Desormeaux: trainer Keith and Hall of Fame jockey Kent. Last year, they ran second with Exaggerator, who captured the Preakness two weeks later.
Sonneteer arrives with a much thinner resume than Exaggerator, the Santa Anita Derby winner in his final prep before heading to Kentucky.
The winless colt is a closer fated to drop far behind the early Derby pace. Some of his past rallies have been mildly effective, carrying him to a second-place finish in the Rebel Stakes and a fourth-place effort in the Arkansas Derby.
"It is good," Kent Desormeaux, a three-time Derby winner, said of drawing the 12th post. "He is just going to drop out to the back anyway."
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