Derby favorite Essential Quality brings strongest resume

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Horse racing could be in line for another Triple Crown bid and this time the likely candidate is an undefeated horse from a barn other than Bob Baffert’s. Baffert, of course, is the sport’s dominant trainer who guided American Pharoah in 2015 and Justify in 2018 to sweeps of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont. Essential Quality brings the most impressive resume into the 1 1/4-mile Derby on Saturday. No surprise, then, that he’s the early 2-1 favorite in a full field of 20 horses.