The United Arab Emirates Derby has yet to produce a Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve winner but it nearly happened last year, when Forever Young came within two noses of taking the opening leg of the Triple Crown. Once again, the UAE Deby will most likely send a representative to the run for the roses as it awards 100 qualifying points on the Euro/Mideast Road to the Kentucky Derby to the winner. Though things could be trickier this year as the race was pushed back a week, leaving it just four weeks in advance of the Derby.

PLEASE NOTE: Numbers shown are the saddlecloth (with post position in parenthesis)

1. (Post-Position No. 3) Admire Daytona (12-1 BRISnet odds): Finished fourth in the Hyacinth Stakes in Japan and won a stakes before that. Japanese horses usually merit respect in these type of spots.

JOCKEY: Christophe Lemaire; TRAINER: Yukihiro Kato

2. (Post 1) Don in the Mood (10-1): Another Japanese runner who ran in the Hyacinth and finished third, 1 ¼ lengths in front of Admire Daytona. Cannot be ignored here.

JOCKEY: Ryusei Sakai; TRAINER: Teiichi Konno

3. (Post 4) Dragon (11-1): Also ran in the Hyacinth and finished fifth, 3 ¼ lengths behind Don in the Mood. Won a stakes by nine lengths before that.

 JOCKEY: Yutaka Take; TRAINER: Mikio Matsunaga

4. (Post 5) Flood Zone (9-5): Was an impressive winner of the Gotham Stakes at Aqueduct in a manner that indicates he should handle the added distance. Looks like the one to beat.

JOCKEY: Florent Geroux; TRAINER: Brad Cox

5. (Post 9) Galactic Star (12-1): Won the prep race for this at Meydan and that experience should make him a player here.

JOCKEY: Tadhg O’Shea; TRAINER: Bhupat Seemar

6. (Post 6) Heart of Honor (4-1): Runner-up to Galactic Star by a head and has never finished worse than second. Belongs in the exotics.

JOCKEY: Saffie Osborne; TRAINER: Jamie Osborne

Flood Zone (Eclipse Sportswire)

7. (Post 8) Rafid (41-1): Comes off a win but has struggled at this level in the past.

JOCKEY: John Velazquez;  TRAINER: Doug Watson

8. (Post 7) Shin Forever (3-1): Was second in the Saudi Derby in his first race on dirt. Should be the main rival. Runs for top Japanese connections.

JOCKEY: Akira Sugawara; TRAINER: Hideyuki Mori

9. (Post 2) Queen Azteca (9-1): Filly won the UAE Oaks and will be a factor on her best try.

JOCKEY: Carlos Lopez; TRAINER: Niels Petersen

THE PICK: Flood Zone

LIVE LONGSHOT: Don in the Mood

SUPERFECTA: 4-8-2-6