Horse Racing Props – Jackson Bend vs Mission Impazible

Kentucky Derby betting action kicks off on Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, and BetOnline Sportsbook has a slew of matchups between individual horses that you can dig into. Right now, we’ll take a look at how #13 Jackson Bend and #14 Mission Impazible stack up against each other.

Kentucky Derby Betting Odds:
Jackson Bend -130
Mission Impazible EV

These two horses that are running side by side with each other have varying styles of races. Jackson Bend would rather stalk the leaders, while Mission Impazible is going to try to turn on the jets at the end of the race to come up and steal a win.

We’ll begin with Jackson Bend. Even though he barely snuck into the Kentucky Derby betting field of 20 horses, many think that this Nick Zito trained horse could be the one to steal the bed of roses.

This was a horse that just narrowly missed out on cashing in huge for his owners at both the Wood Memorial and the Fountain of Youth. Both times, he finished second to Eskendereya, who was going to be the prohibitive favorite in this race.

However, we’re not too keen about the fact that this horse has never had jockey Mike Smith on board for a race and that he has only finished closer than 8.5 lengths from the lead once as a three year old.

Jackson Bend has also never run up against this type of speed in a race. He is going to try his best to go out with the lead horses, and whereas other jockeys that are familiar with their horses may be able to hold their colt back, it is a question whether Smith will be able keep Jackson Ben from spending too much energy at the outset of the race to make it the full mile and a quarter.

Mission Impazible has shown a great ability to close late in races and move up several spots in doing so. He closed three lengths in the final stretch at the Louisiana Derby to steal victory there and picked up two lengths in the closing strides.

In general, we prefer Mission Impazible’s pedigree as well, as he has Unbridled and Unbridled’s Song in his lineage. There isn’t much of a doubt that he can run the full distance in this race.

Jockey Rajiv Maragh is an unknown in Triple Crown races, as his first mount in a major race came aboard Brave Victory in last year’s Kentucky Derby. However, the Jamaican jockey is familiar with his horse, unlike Mike Smith with Jackson Bend.

When push comes to shove, we feel as though Mission Impazible has a chance to win this race, while Jackson Bend probably doesn’t. Though Jackson Bend will most likely be in front for the majority of this race between these two, at the end, Mission Impazible will survive and thrive, while Jackson Bend will most like fade towards the back of the pack.

My Kentucky Derby Betting Prediction: Mission Impazible EV