Going with Nyquist again. Nyquist is 3-5 to win at Pimlico and I think he will though Exagerrator at 3-1, should give him a good run for his money like he did at the Derby in which he almost caught Nyquist at the finish line. Like Nyquist to capture the second leg of the Triple Crown and be primed to capture the second consecutive triple crown after Pharoah did it last year, which was the first time in 37 years after Affirmed did it in 1978. Seattle Slew had won it the year before in 1977, so kind of interesting if Nyquist pulls it off today. I like Nyquist to get it done on the 1 3/16 mile track just outside of Baltimore. 

Post time is 6:45 PM ET/5:45 PM CT and will be televised by NBC.  Rain is expected at 6 PM, so  it’ll be a wet track. But Nyquist is a good wet track horse, so still like him. Trainer Doug O’Neill, jockey Mario Guitierrez, and owner Paul Roddam get it done again. 

Winner: Nyquist

French Open

In the men’s singles finials at Roland Garros just outside of Paris, I like:

Novak Djokovic over Andy Murray in four sets.

Djoker will be tested by Rafa Nadal in the semis, and he’ll get out of there with a tough five set victory, then he’ll be challenged by Murray in the final, but he’ll prevail. Like Djoker to win his 12th Slam and first French. He has won six Australian Opens, three Wimbledons and two U.S. Opens. This would be a “Nova” slam because he won Wimbledon, the U.S. and the Australian in 2015 (Wimbledon, U.S.) and 2016 (Australian). Pretty spectacular stuff from the 28 Serbian year old, who will be 29 tomorrow. Novak could very well challenge the Federer all time record of 17 Grand Slam titles. Roger is out of the French with an injury. This is the first Slam Roger has missed in 17 years. But Rafa and Andy will give Novak a run for his money for sure.

In the women’s

Serena Williams

Serena over whomever she plays. She’s just too good for the rest of this field right now. They’re catching up, but Serena is playing well and is unstoppable right now. She’s still got it at 34 years old and is going for her 22nd Slam to tie Steffi Graf for second most Grand Slam history. Margaret Court has the most at 24. She’s second only to Graf in the Open era. Maybe Madison Keys will give Serena some problems or Simona Halep. They’re good players and up and coming, but Serena is too good right now. Now that Maria Sharapova is out due to performance enhancer use and Caroline Wozniacki is out with injury, it’s just hard to find a player that can beat Serena at this point.