Seven Kentucky Derby Horses in Seven Days: J Boys Echo

After covering McCraken,  Always Dreaming,  Irish War Cry, Classic Empire, Hence and Gunnevera, we have arrived at my final profile of 2017 Kentucky Derby contenders, J Boys Echo.

Trainer Dale Romans has been a staple of sorts in recent years of the Triple Crown and it seems likely that he will break through at some point with a Kentucky Derby win. J Boys Echo is a most intriguing colt to me and one that I think could be a major player at Churchill.

Bay colt has a trio of races under him this season with a nice foundation, all going two turns, and his victory two back when dominating the Gotham (G3) was visually fantastic as he won that race for fun. Expensive son of Mineshaft, as many from this barn, has a fine pedigree to run 10 furlongs and will be of great value on Derby Day.

I have been a bit upside-down about the Kentucky-bred sophomore to this point. My thoughts were that he would use the Gotham to roll in the Blue Grass (G2), but the opposite occurred when he came home fourth at Keeneland in his final prep. Nonetheless, this $485,000 purchase certainly has ability and while I am not sure he defeated the deepest field in New York two prior, he couldn’t have looked much better on that occasion.

After watching the Blue Grass on numerous occasions, I give the colt pass for not getting a great trip in a race where nobody was making up ground, and that test could serve as a fine prelude to the Derby. It’s also worth note that J Boy was a fast-closing second in his debut at Churchill, proving he can fire at this venue.

Prediction

J Boys Echo is my longshot exotics horse that I expect to offer a strong run approaching and through the stretch, ultimately finishing in the top-four at a big price.