His life straddles the history of horse racing and he’s seen it all from the back of a horse. Seventy-three-year-old Mike Crowder gets to Churchill Downs every morning by 4 a.m.. He tends to his morning chores with his two ponies, Blue and Levi, and readies them to escort the Japanese Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve contenders to the track. 

Major race days typically offer big fields from start to finish on cards loaded with stakes races and thus present an ideal opportunity to find betting value for a strong opinion.