The 20-horse field (as well as 3 also-eligible runners) was drawn today at Churchill Downs for Saturday’s 149th edition of the $3 million Kentucky Derby. Forte, last year’s 2-Year-Old Champion and winner of Gulfstream Park’s Fountain of Youth and Florida Derby, was made the 3-1 favorite by track oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, who set the official morning line for his 50th Kentucky Derby.
Horseplayers betting the Kentucky Derby (Saturday) and Kentucky Oaks (Friday) cards can enjoy a $10 money-back special on win bets if those selections finish second or third in any race either day.
Forte begins from post 15, which has produced 6 Kentucky Derby winners since the 1930 implementation of the mechanical starting gate, the last of which was Authentic in 2020. Trainer Todd Pletcher has won 2 Kentucky Derby renewals, 2010 with Super Saver and 2017 with Always Dreaming, the latter his only prior Derby post-time favorite from his record 62 career starters in the race.
Blue Grass Stakes winner Tapit Trice has had issues leaving the gate with interest, and his long, lumbering stride is best-utilized when able to stay outside in the clear. His draw of post 5 is a more difficult spot in terms of traffic than you’d like. Santa Anita Derby winner Practical Move also has had some trouble in the initial stages in 6 of his 7 career starts. His draw of post 10 is amongst a group of early interests and will be interesting to see who gets away clean. Wood Memorial upsetter Lord Miles has been in a tangle at the start often in recent starts, he leaves from post 19 and shouldn’t cause any trouble.
The expected pace of this year’s Kentucky Derby is a cloudy forecast. UAE Derby winner Derma Sotogake (post 17) and Louisiana Derby winner Kingsbarns (post 6) are the only major prep winners to lead wire-to-wire. Others who may contest the front early include Reincarnate (post 7), Verifying (post 2), Jace’s Road (post 12) and Mage (post 8). The clump of potential speed between posts 6-12 could cause those runners to hook up a bit faster than expected on paper. Couple that with Verifying likely having to gun from post 2.
No horse has won the Derby from posts 1-3 since Real Quiet in 1998 from the 3-hole. Affirmed (1978 Triple Crown winner) was the last to win from post 2, while Ferdinand (1986) the last to capture the roses from the rail draw. Last year, Rich Strike became the second horse ever to win from post 20, joining Big Brown (2008). Among the great anomalies, post 17 has never had a Derby winner.
Rocket Can and Sun Thunder race with blinkers on.
149th Kentucky Derby // Saturday // Churchill Downs // Race 12 // 6:57 pm ET
#1-Hit Show (Manny Franco//Brad Cox) 30-1
#2-Verifying (Tyler Gaffalione//Brad Cox) 15-1
#3-Two Phil’s (Jareth Loveberry//Larry Rivelli) 12-1
#4-Confidence Game (James Graham//Keith Desormeaux) 20-1
#5-Tapit Trice (Luis Saez//Todd Pletcher) 5-1
#6-Kingsbarns (Jose Ortiz//Todd Pletcher) 12-1
#7-Reincarnate (John Velazquez//Tim Yakteen) 50-1
#8-Mage (Javier Castellano//Gustavo Delgado) 15-1
#9-Skinner (Juan Hernandez//John Shirreffs) 20-1
#10-Practical Move (Ramon Vazquez//Tim Yakteen) 10-1
#11-Disarm (Joel Rosario//Steve Asmussen) 30-1
#12-Jace’s Road (Florent Geroux//Brad Cox) 50-1
#13-Sun Thunder (Brian Hernandez Jr.//Kenny McPeek) 50-1
#14-Angel of Empire (Flavien Prat//Brad Cox) 8-1
#15-Forte (Irad Ortiz Jr.//Todd Pletcher) 3-1
#16-Raise Cain (Gerardo Corrales//Ben Colebrook) 50-1
#17-Derma Sotogake (Christophe Lemaire//Hidetaki Otonashi) 10-1
#18-Rocket Can (Junior Alvardo//Bill Mott) 30-1
#19-Lord Miles (Paco Lopez//Saffie Joseph Jr) 30-1
#20-Continuar (Ryusei Sakai//Yoshito Yahagi) 50-1
Also-Eligible (scratch deadline Friday at 9 am ET):
#21-Cyclone Mischief (Joel Rosario//Dale Romans) 30-1
#22-Mandarin Hero (Kazushi Kimura//Terunobu Fujita) 20-1
#23-King Russell (Rafael Bejarano//Ron Moquett) 50-1
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Friday’s 149th Kentucky Oaks also was drawn at Monday’s ceremony. The capacity field of 14 (with 3 also-eligibles) includes Oaklawn sophomore filly series standout Wet Paint, who drew post 7 and is the 5-2 morning line favorite. The $1.25 million Oaks lineup also includes the father-son training matchup of Mark and Norm Casse. The former sends out 2022 Champion 2-Year-Old Filly Wonder Wheel (post 5, 12-1), while the latter saddles Fair Grounds Oaks winner Southlawn (post 4, 8-1). Pretty Mischievous (post 14, 10-1) adds blinkers for the first time.
149th Kentucky Oaks // Friday // Churchill Downs // Race 11 // 5:51 pm ET
#1-Mimi Kakushi (Mikael Barzelona//Salem bin Ghadayer) 20-1
#2-The Alys Look (Javier Castellano//Brad Cox) 15-1
#3-Gambling Girl (Irad Ortiz Jr.//Todd Pletcher) 15-1
#4-Southlawn (Rey Gutierrez//Norm Casse) 8-1
#5-Wonder Wheel (Joel Rosario//Mark Casse) 12-1
#6-Botanical (Chris Landeros//Brad Cox) 4-1
#7-Wet Paint (Flavien Prat//Brad Cox) 5-2
#8-Promiseher America (Jorge Vargas Jr.//Ray Handal) 30-1
#9-And Tell Me No Lies (Ramon Vazquez//Peter Miller) 15-1
#10-Flying Connection (Florent Geroux//Todd Fincher) 15-1
#11-Defining Purpose (Brian Hernandez Jr.//Kenny McPeek) 12-1
#12-Dorth Vader (Luis Saez//Mike Yates) 20-1
#13-Affirmative Lady (John Velazquez//Graham Motion) 10-1
#14-Pretty Mischievous (Tyler Gaffalione//Brendan Walsh) 10-1
Also-Eligible:
#15-Taxed (Rafael Bejarano//Randy Morse) 20-1
#16-Julia Shining (Luis Saez//Todd Pletcher) 15-1
#17-Hoosier Philly (Edgar Morales//Tom Amoss) 30-1
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