Kentucky Derby Contenders Poll: Dortmund returns to the top
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. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. International Star, 4. Carpe Diem, 5. Far Right, 6. Firing line, 7. Prospect Park, 8. Far From Over, 9. El Kabier, 10. Materiality.
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. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. Mubtaahij, 4. Carpe Diem, 5. Materiality, 6. International Star, 7. Upstart, 8. Firing Line, 9. El Kabeir, 10. Far From Over.
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. Carpe Diem, 2. Dortmund, 3. Far From Over, 4. American Pharoah, 5. Mubtaahij, 6. Prospect Park, 7. Bolo, 8. Upstart, 9. Materiality, 10. Firing Line.
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. American Pharoah, 2. Mubtaahij, 3. Dortmund, 4. Carpe Diem, 5. Materiality, 6. Prospect Park, 7. Firing Line, 8. El Kabeir, 9. Upstart, 10. Bolo.
Dustin Fabian
About Dustin: An avid racing fan and horseplayer, Dustin has been a member of the Xpressbet team since 2010, where he currently serves as Marketing Manager. His roles include communications, website content and simulcasting. He grew up in Pittsburgh, became hooked on horse racing in 2003 and as they say, the rest is history. Among Dustin's favorite horses are Ghostzapper, Funny Cide and English Channel.
Dustin's top 10: 1. Carpe Diem, 2. Dortmund, 3. Firing Line, 4. American Pharoah, 5. Materiality, 6. Mubtaahij, 7. Upstart, 8. International Star, 9. Prospect Park, 10. Bolo.
Gary West
About Gary: The son of a jockey who then became a trainer, Gary West grew up around racing and horses, and his earliest jobs were all at the racetrack. While going to school, he worked as a hot walker, groom, assistant, agent and valet, and then he set out on a very different career path. But after teaching writing and American literature at the University of Tennessee and publishing scholarly articles in such magazines as The Yeats Eliot Review and The Mark Twain Journal, he eventually returned to the racetrack. As a sports writer, turf writer and columnist, he has worked for the Dallas Times Herald, Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram; his work also has appeared in many magazines and journals. He's the author of Razoo At the Races and has contributed to many books on racing. A former president of the National Turf Writers Association, he currently writes a regular column for ESPN.com.
Gary's top 10: 1. Dortmund, 2. American Pharaoh, 3. Carpe Diem, 4. Firing Line, 5. Materiality, 6. Far From Over, 7. Upstart, 8. Prospect Park, 9. International Star, 10. Mubtaahij.
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. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. Firing Line, 4. International Star, 5. Materiality, 6. El Kabeir, 7. Carpe Diem, 8. Upstart, 9. Mubtaahij, 10. Far From Over.
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. Dortmund, 2. Carpe Diem, 3. American Pharoah, 4. Firing Line, 5. Materiality, 6. Upstart, 7. International Star, 8. Mubtahiij, 9. Prospect Park, 10. Far From Over.
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. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. Firing Line, 4. Materiality, 5. Carpe Diem, 6. Mubtaahij, 7. International Star, 8. Prospect Park, 9. Upstart, 10. Dubai Sky.
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. Dortmund, 2. American Pharoah, 3. Carpe Diem, 4. Firing Line, 5. Mubtaahij, 6. International Star, 7. Materiality, 8. Upstart, 9. Far From Over, 10. El Kabeir.
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. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. Materiaility, 4. Firing Line, 5. Upstart, 6. Carpe Diem, 7. International Star, 8. El Kabeir, 9. Prospect Park, 10. Mubtaahij.
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. Dortmund, 2. El Kabeir, 3. Carpe Diem, 4. Prospect Park, 5. American Pharoah, 6. Far Right, 7. Materiality, 8. Far From Over, 9. Upstart, 10. Mubtahhij.
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. Dortmund, 2. American Pharoah, 3. Far Right, 4. Upstart, 5. Carpe Diem, 6. International Star, 7. Far From Over, 8. War Story, 9. Firing Line, 10. Itsaknockout.
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. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. Carpe Diem, 4. Firing Line, 5. International Star, 6. Far From Over, 7. Bolo, 8. Materiality, 9. Upstart, 10. Dubai Sky.
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. American Pharaoh, 2. Dortmund, 3. Carpe Diem, 4. Mubtaahij, 5. Firing Line, 6. International Star, 7. Far Right, 8. El Kabeir, 9. Prospect Park, 10. Bolo.