Kentucky Derby Predictions 2012: Trainers Whose Horses Are Sure to Shine

It is Cinco De Mayo and today will be the 138th running of the Kentucky Derby. The 2012 Kentucky Derby will begin at 6:24pm Eastern this afternoon in Louisville, Kentucky on the track at Churchill Downs and each horse in the running looks strong and athletic.

As great as these horses look, they were developed by even stronger trainers that ate, slept, and breathed hard-work and devotion into each horse that runs on Saturday's track.

No trainer has experienced the ups and downs quite like trainer Steve Asmussen. In 2007, Asmussen trained the horse of the year, Curlin, only to finish third in the Kentucky Derby. Even better was in in 2011 when he trained Nehro, who finished second in the derby.

But no one remembers who came in third or second, it is always who won the Kentucky Derby that get's all the fame and glory in the media's eye.

Will 2012 be the year Asmussen finally wins the Derby?

Asmussen certainly has good odds and roots. He was born into a race horsing family and trained two horses that will be running in today's Kentucky Derby: Daddy Nose Best and Sabercat.

"

According to Gary West, sportswriter and commentator on ESPN, Asmussen said this Derby is especially meaningful for him because he's here with two horses that come from his "parents' place," the Primero training center in Laredo, Texas. His parents, Keith and Marilyn, are both trainers, and over the years from their El Primero training center have come such horses as Tight Spot, Sea Cadet, Olympio, Summerly and Suave Dancer.

"

Asmussen stated off as a jockey in his early years and then his height and weight got the best of him so he became a trainer. In Asmussen's career as a trainer he has won over 6,000 races and is very confident in both horses going into today's Kentucky Derby. 

"

In the interview with Gary West, Asmussen went on to say, "I like the confidence level of Daddy Nose Best," Asmussen said, "and the spacing of his races. He obviously thinks he has a chance; he doesn't know who has been in the paddock with him his last couple of races. And I like the experience Sabercat has gotten with the travel and all the dirt he's taken."

"

Asmussen went on to say during the interview that, "You have to be prepared, you have to be good enough, and you have to be fortunate."

While Asmussen is confident in his horses, there is another trainer that is flying under the radar in the Kentucky Derby: trainer of Creative Cause, Mike Harrington. 

"

Harrington does have some experience on the race track according to his interview with Beth Harris of The Associated Press, Harrington followed his father, grandfather and great-grandfather into the business, starting out training and racing quarter horses at bush tracks as a teenager. Later, he became a veterinarian and worked the racetracks until returning to training full time nearly 20 years ago.

"

Harrington and Creative Cause, both out of California, have beaten fellow derby racer Bodemesiter to win the San Felipe Stakes and finished third to another duo of 2012 Kentucky Derby favorites; Hansen and Union Rags in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last fall at Churchill Downs. Harrington knows Creative Cause can compete among the best.

"

Harrington went on to say with Beth Harris about Creative Cause that, "He falls under the radar, which I like. I don't want him to be the favorite, I don't want everybody talking about him," Harrington said. "Everybody should be talking about Bodemeister, although my horse outrun him. Everybody should be talking about I'll Have Another, although I outrun him also."

"

Harrington might be a 71-year-old first timer here at the 2012 Kentucky Derby, but he has a better chance than everybody else with his horse flying under the radar and ready to burst out of the gates.

The race approaches and these trainers are settling their horses, preparing for the most exciting two minutes in sports.

Can it be a horse whose trainer has done everything except win the Kentucky Derby or will be an old first-timer whose horse is way under the radar?