5 horses to watch

Exaggerator The son of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin is trained by Keith Desormeaux and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, the Hall of Fame jockey who is Keith’s younger brother. The colt has three wins in eight career starts and earnings of $1 million. He has lost to Nyquist three times, including last year’s Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Exaggerator is a versatile sort who can press the pace or stalk the leaders. He is coming off an impressive 6¼-length victory in the Santa Anita Derby on a sloppy track. Gun Runner The colt topped the Derby leader board with 151 points earned in prep races. He has four wins in five career starts, including the Louisiana Derby and Risen Star this winter. Trainer Steve Asmussen, recently elected to racing’s Hall of Fame, is seeking his first Derby victory. Gun Runner has the secondhighest earnings of $1.6 million among the horses expected to make the field. Mohaymen The colt had his five-race winning streak snapped in the Florida Derby, when he finished fourth behind Nyquist as the 4-5 favorite. Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin tosses out the clunker, saying Mohaymen has had “only two bad minutes in his entire life.” Mohaymen’s blood lines include Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Seattle Slew. Mor Spirit Any Derby horse trained by Bob Baffert is worth consideration. The Hall of Fame trainer has four Derby victories, including last year when American Pharoah began his journey to Triple Crown glory in this race. Gary Stevens, another Hall of Famer, will ride the Pennsylvania-bred colt. Mor Spirit has never been worse than second in seven career starts. Nyquist The colt brings a 7-0 record into Churchill Downs, bettering the marks of Seattle Slew in 1977 and Smarty Jones in 2004 when they were 6-0 and won the race. He comes in off a five-week layoff, having last won the Florida Derby. The colt has won from just about everywhere: on the rail, from the far outside, leading all the way or coming from off the pace. Nyquist is a son of Uncle Mo, who also went undefeated in his 2-year-old season. Nyquist is the richest horse in the Derby field, having earned $3.2 million. He was purchased for $400,000.