First Saturday in May II

All eyes turn to Churchill Downs this weekend for the Kentucky Derby and with it come lots of reminders of Derbys gone wrong. For starters, there is the new statue of Barbaro outside of Gate 1, which is making quite a splash. From all reports, it is hard to ignore and a fitting reminder of the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner's greatest accomplishment.

Of course, the memory of Barbaro is bittersweet and reminds us of last year's Derby and the untimely death of Eight Belles, who was euthanized on the track after shattering her two front legs after running the race of her life. Racing is going out of its way to inform the public that much has changed since then, but while improvements have been made on the surface, one wonders just how much as changed behind the scenes.

Churchill Downs has been awarded one of the first NTRA safety accreditations that bring with it the following changes for Saturday's race: padded starting gates, replacement of whips with riding crops, a ban on the type of cleated shoe believed to cause injuries and laws against anabolic steroid use.

The real question remains whether or not the very public changes will indeed make any difference. There are still 20 plus horses charging from two starting gates at break-neck speeds (a recipe for disaster in my opinion), a dirt track subject to all the peculiarities weather can throw its way, and the use of lasix, which, in my opinion, should also be banned. Plus who knows what else has been injected into these horses that may pass as "legal?"

I'm feeling apprehensive as I always do before the very public face of racing makes its annual debut. If anything else happens, heaven forbid, I truly do not think racing can save itself.

My picks for the race as as follows: Friesan Fire, Pioneerof the Nile and General Quarters. I'm not sure how I am going to bet it but most likely not in a trifecta--too many horses to throw it off.