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Kentucky Derby 2011 Contenders: Nehro Closing Fast On Favorites

Nehro was a little known horse with great pedigree before he came from 11 lengths back to win his first race at Oaklawn in late February. Since then he's continued to impress experts with his ability to finish strong with wide rallies. In the Arkansas Derby he just missed catching another 2011 Kentucky Derby favorite, Archarcharch.

Nehro is trained by Steven M. Asmussen at the Zayat Stables and is the product of Mineshaft and The Administrator. Having two second place finishes and a win in his last three starts, some are starting to notice this colt a bit more. With the additional length of the Kentucky Derby this slow-starting, strong-finishing horse could benefit form the additional furlong.

Expert Matt Garder doesn't see his post position draw as a problem either.

At first glance the #19 looks bad for Nehro, but he does no running in the early stages of his races and he should be able to easily get over towards the rail before the field hits the first turn.

Nehro will be riden by Corey Nakatani who's never won the Derby but he does have seven Breeders Cup victories to his name. At least one writer expects that hunger to fuel a furious attempt on Satuday, "Look for the rider nicknamed C-Nak to put in the try of his life in an attempt to get this one to the winners circle."


The 2011 Kentucky Derby post time is at 6:24 p.m. (ET) on Saturday, May 7th and SB Nation has everything you need to prepare for it - current Derby odds, contender profiles, field updates and more. You can find all of that and more at the SB Nation 2011 Kentucky Derby StoryStream. Also, our horse racing blog And Down The Stretch They Come has two must-read resources for Derby fans: A Beginner's Guide To Following Horse Racing and a glossary of horse racing terms.