Well, we have our Top 23 Future Wager horses. Of course, old reliable “all others” is the morning line favorite, which every year provides bettors with the worst odds imaginable. But what if you matched the Top 23 with and second-tier group and see which group proves more successful and sends the most horses to the starting gate on the first Saturday in May.

Let’s give it a shot and see if the proven and heavily touted horses can outdo the so-called lesser accomplished horses.

Missing from the main list are classy 2-year-old stakes horses D' Funnybone  , Discreetly Mine  , Pulsion, Interactif, Uh Oh Bango, Peppi Knows, and Soaring Empire  , as well as a host of impressive allowance and maiden winners from this year. Many of the seven horses mentioned above could very well displace those on the big list without it being much of a surprise

So, here is a representative group of 23 in alphabetical order to challenge the heavy hitters.

Afleet Express  —Not sure how far he wants to go, but love his two races

Colizeo— Impressive breaking his maiden going 1 1/8 miles

Day of Destiny—Ran down tough pacesetter in 7f maiden, should stretch out

D' Funnybone  —Throw out BC Juvenile and he’s hard to fault; distance so-so

Discreetly Mine  —Classy 2-year-old, strong pedigree; should improve two turns

Hotep—Big move on turn while under wraps in FG maiden score

Ice Box  —Looked good winning Gulfstream allowance at 1 1/8 miles

Interactif—Really want to see him on dirt and allowed to make late run

Kettle River—Santa Anita allowance winner over strong field

Lentenor  —Time to get him on dirt after impressive grass maiden win

Leothelion—Strong effort in 7f maiden race; galloped out strong
Middle of the Nite—Ran huge against Eskendereya and comes back in Sam Davis

Mission Impazible  —Gets class test in Monday’s Southwest Stakes

Moojab—Not sure about distance; gets class test in Southwest

Nextdoorneighbor—Ran huge in two-turn debut; bred to go long

Peppi Knows—Whirlaway winner finished 2nd to Buddy’s Saint in Remsen

Prince Will I Am—Bounced back with fast-closing second vs. Drosselmeyer

Pulsion—Norfolk runner-up has big closing kick. Dirt debut in FOY
Sidney's Candy  —Extremely fast, but should improve when he goes two turns

Soaring Empire  —A real dark horse; super pedigree; solid third in Iroquois

Tempted to Tapit—He could be any kind; romped at Aqueduct with 100 Beyer

The Program—Starting to come around; never runs a bad race

Uh Oh Bango—Headed for Sunland Derby; stakes efforts last year were big

Sitting right behind this group are: 

Boulder Creek—Defeated Ziggy's Stardust and now heads for Sham Stakes
Pleasant Prince—Solid second to Ice Box in Gulf allowance; should improve
Odysseus—Showed potential is game maiden victory in solid time
First Dude  —Solid maiden victory at Gulfstream
Fast Alex—Maiden score at Fair Grounds suggests more to come
Island Soul—Improving with every race for Asmussen and Stonestreet
Nacho Friend—Hasn’t run since big effort in Sanford Stakes
Bulls and Bears—Like Nacho Friend hasn’t run since equally good effort
Ziggy's Stardust—His maiden races have been impressive against top quality