Kentucky Derby Contenders Poll: Week 2
The ESPN.com Top 10 Kentucky Derby Contenders Poll will be updated weekly and be comprised of votes from the following media and industry members:
Jay Cronley
About Jay: Jay Cronley writes a weekly column for ESPN.com horse racing and a weekly general interest column for the Tulsa World. Jay has written nine novels, five of which have been made into movies including "Funny Farm" starring Chevy Chase and "Quick Change" staring Bill Murray and Geena Davis. His novel "Good Vibes" was the basis for the movie "Let It Ride" staring Richard Dreyfuss.
Jay's top 10: 1. Honor Code, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Tapiture, 4. Intense Holiday, 5. Candy Boy, 6. Wildcat Red, 7. Samraat, 8. Bayern, 9. Constitution, 10. California Chrome.
Bill Finley
About Bill: Bill Finley is an award-winning racing writer whose work has appeared in The New York Times, USA Today and Sports Illustrated.
Bill's top 10: 1. Candy Boy, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Wildcat Red, 4. Shared Belief, 5. Honor Code, 6. Tapiture, 7. Vicar's In Trouble, 8. Top Billing, 9. Intense Holiday, 10. General A Rod.
Kellie Reilly
About Kellie: Kellie Reilly is a staff writer in the editorial department at Brisnet.com, which produces the "Handicapper's Edge" and "Bloodstock Journal" daily online newsletters and contributes to ESPN.com and NBCSports.com. Aside from posting news items and pedigree analysis on the official Derby website, kentuckyderby.com, she has also written articles for Churchill Downs' Kentucky Derby program.
Kellie's top 10: 1. Honor Code, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Top Billing, 4. Candy Boy, 5. Strong Mandate, 6. Mexikoma, 7. Bayern, 8. Giovanni Boldini, 9. Conquest Titan, 10. Intense Holiday.
Terry Turrell
About Terry: Terry Turrell is from a family embedded in horse racing. The syndicated writer and handicapper is a stalwart among Southern California newspapers and is an ESPN.com contributor.
Terry's top 10: 1. Candy Boy, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Tapiture, 4. California Chrome, 5. Intense Holiday, 6. Commissioner, 7. Honor Code, 8. Wildcat Red, 9. Strong Mandate, 10. Mexicoma.
Esther Marr
About Esther: Esther Marr is a staff writer for The Blood-Horse magazine. Her work has also appeared in the Chevy Chaser/Southsider Magazines, Business Lexington, the Lane Report, and BG Lexington.
Esther's top 10: 1. Cairo Prince, 2. Honor Code, 3. Candy Boy, 4. Rise Up, 5. Midnight Hawk, 6. Tapiture, 7. Noble Moon, 8. Intense Holiday, 9. Wildcat Red, 10. General A Rod.
Gary West
About Gary: Gary West has worked for the Dallas Times-Herald, Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has published poetry and short stories, as well as scholarly articles on such a diversity of subjects as Mark Twain and T.S. Eliot, and, of course, he has written about horse racing for many magazines, including, most recently, North American Trainer. For years he also worked as a host for television and radio shows on horse racing. The winner of several awards for his writing and the author of "Razoo at the Races," he also has contributed to several books on horse racing. He writes a regular horse racing column for ESPN.com.
Gary's top 10: 1. Honor Code, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Candy Boy, 4. Top Billing, 5. Bayern, 6. Strong Mandate, 7. Tapiture, 8. Intense Holiday, 9. General A Rod, 10. Commissioner.
Bob Ehalt
About Bob: Bob Ehalt has won three Associated Press Sports Editors awards for his coverage of the sport and was the recipient of the 2009 Breeders' Cup media award for outstanding social media. He also received honorable mention in the 2011 Eclipse Awards for Feature/Commentary writing.
Bob's top 10: 1. Cairo Prince, 2. Tapiture, 3. Honor Code, 4. Candy Boy, 5. Top Billing, 6. Intense Holiday, 7. Samraat, 8. Tamarando, 9. Strong Mandate, 10. Shared Belief.
Steve Davidowitz
About Steve: Steve Davidowitz has been a racing columnist and professional horseplayer since Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown. He is the author of the best selling "Betting Thoroughbreds for the 21st Century" and "The Best and Worst of Thoroughbred Racing,"
Steve's top 10: 1. Shared Belief, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Candy Boy, 4. Bayern, 5. Top Billing, 6. Honor Code, 7. Tapiture, 8. Samraat, 9. Strong Mandate, 10. Intense Holiday.
Amanda Duckworth
About Amanda: Amanda Duckworth is a freelance journalist who lives in Lexington, Ky. Among her other duties, she is an editor for Gallop Magazine.
Amanda's top 10: 1. Cairo Prince, 2. Tapiture, 3. Honor Code, 4. Candy Boy, 5. Top Billing, 6. Midnight Hawk, 7. Strong Mandate, 8. Shared Belief, 9. Intense Holiday, 10. Havana.
Tim Turrell
About Tim: Tim Turrell is a third generation descendant from a horse racing family. He started his career as a clocker/handicapper before transitioning to a successful career in television. Tim was nominated for an Emmy in 2009 as lead producer of the Breeders' Cup. He currently serves as a columnist and regular contributor to the "In The Gate" podcasts on ESPN.com.
Tim's top 10: 1. Bayern, 2. Candy Boy, 3. Shared Belief, 4. Honor Code, 5. Strong Mandate, 6. Cairo Prince, 7. Havana, 8. Bobby's Kitten, 9. Tapiture, 10. Top Billing.
Barry Abrams
About Barry: Barry Abrams is a 20-year ESPN veteran. He hosts the weekly ESPN "In The Gate" thoroughbred podcast.
Barry's top 10: 1. Honor Code, 2. Midnight Hawk, 3. Cairo Prince, 4. General a Rod, 5. Wildcat Red, 6. Bond Holder, 7. Candy Boy, 8. Chitu, 9. California Chrome, 10. Top Billing.
Kerry Carlson
About Kerry: As senior vice president of Marketing for Xpressbet, Kerry oversees marketing, promotions, product development and overall brand management for the ADW provider. She has over 20 years of experience in horse racing and sports marketing, having worked as an exercise rider and assistant trainer early in her career and later as a brand marketer working with many of the premier sports properties in North America.
Kerry's top 10: 1. Honor Code, 2. Top Billing, 3. Cairo Prince, 4. Tapiture, 5. Intense Holiday, 6. Albano, 7. Red Mandate, 8. General A Rod, 9. Candy Boy, 10. Strong Mandate.
Jennie Rees
About Jennie: Jennie Rees has covered horse racing and the Kentucky Derby for The (Louisville) Courier-Journal since 1984.
Jennie's top 10: 1. Top Billing, 2. Cairo Prince, 3. Candy Boy, 4. Honor Code, 5. Intense Holiday, 6. Tapiture, 7. Strong Mandate, 8. Kristo, 9. Conquest Titan, 10. Bayern.
Seth Merrow
About Seth: Seth Merrow is the founder and publisher of the popular horse racing news website Equidaily.com. Merrow is also a host and handicapper on Capital OTB-TV
Seth's top 10: 1. Cairo Prince, 2. Tapiture, 3. Top Billing, 4. Strong Mandate, 5. Bayern, 6. Conquest Titan, 7. Harpoon, 8. Intense Holiday, 9. Honor Code, 10. Candy Boy.
Ed Derosa
About Ed: Ed DeRosa is director of marketing for Brisnet.com, the official data source of the Kentucky Derby and TwinSpires.com. Ed joined Brisnet.com in July 2011 following nine years as a writer and editor with Thoroughbred Times. He grew up in Cleveland and learned to love horse racing while going to Thistledown with his grandfather. Ed is a diehard Indians fan, leaving him to wonder which -- if either -- will come first: another Triple Crown winner or an Indians world championship. Ed's favorite horses are Real Quiet, Ghostzapper and Rachel Alexandra.
Ed's top 10: 1. Honor Code, 2. Shared Belief, 3. Cairo Prince, 4. Tapiture, 5. Strong Mandate, 6. General a Rod, 7. Intense Holiday, 8. Candy Boy, 9. Samraat, 10. Wildcat Red.
John Desantis
About John: DeSantis, originally from Philadelphia, is a Thoroughbred racing veteran, beginning his career in publicity departments at Southern California racetracks. He's worked as a morning-line maker, journalist, television and radio host and racing official. He served as agent to jockeys Sandy Hawley and Alex Solis before becoming Senior Vice President and Editor of Xpressbet.
John 's top 10: 1. Cairo Prince, 2. Candy Boy, 3. Top Billing, 4. Strong Mandate, 5. Tapiture, 6. Conquest Titan, 7. Tamarando, 8. Honor Code, 9. Shared Belief, 10. Intense Holiday.