Title: "The 151st Kentucky Derby: A Look at the Contenders and Race Day Details"

April 30 (UPI) — The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is set for Saturday at the storied Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Often called the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Derby kicks off the Triple Crown, which includes the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. The last horse to win all three races was Justify in 2018.

The Derby is scheduled to start at 6:57 p.m. EDT, and will be broadcast on NBC-TV. It also will stream on Peacock, which will stream the day’s events starting at noon.

Forecasters call a dry Derby Day. Temperatures will be mild, with highs in the upper 60s.

Here are the 20 horses entered for the 1 1/4-mile Run for the Roses, by post position, with sire, trainer, jockey and morning-line odds.

1. Citizen Bull (by Into Mischief), Bob Baffert, Martin Garcia, 20-1
   First the good news: This colt was the 2024 2-year-old champion and won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. He started this year’s campaign with a convincing win in the Grade III Robert B. Lewis. More good news: Trainer Bob Baffert already has six Kentucky Derby victories. Now the bad news: He faded badly through the stretch in the Grade I Santa Anita Derby, finishing fourth behind Journalism, who is the morning-line favorite in the Run for the Roses. More bad news: The No. 1 gate likely will force another front-running effort. Still, Baffert works magic in this race and while he might not go off at 20-1, he’ll pay well if he wins.

2. Neoequos (by Neolithic), Saffie Joseph Jr., Flavien Prat, 30-1
   He did well against fellow Florida-breds earlier in his career, but then finished third in both the Grade III Fountain of Youth and Grade I Florida Derby, well beaten in both races. He was one of the last to get into the Kentucky Derby based on qualifying points and certainly doesn’t look like he wants to go the 1 1/4 miles around the Churchill Downs track. On the plus side, his trainer is hot and his jockey is aces.

3. Final Gambit (by Not This Time), Brad Cox, Luan Machado, 30-1
   This one looked like anything but a Derby horse through his first three starts, one on turf and two on the Turfway Park all-weather course. Then he inexplicably came to life in the Grade III Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway, rallying from last of 12 to win by 3 1/2 lengths. The Derby will be his first start on dirt. His pedigree is golden and he’s owned by the internationally renowned Juddmonte operation. The question is: Was that last race for real?

4. Rodriguez (by Authentic), Bob Baffert, Mike Smith, 12-1
   Judging by the morning-line odds, this is the better of trainer Baffert’s two chances for his seventh Derby win. He enters off a front-running victory in the Grade II Wood Memorial, but also has finished behind Derby rivals Journalism and stablemate Citizen Bull in previous races. His two career wins came in gate-to-wire fashion, and he will have to deal with several other speedy types here, which won’t help the cause. Note Baffert and "Big Money Mike" Smith collaborated on 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify. Baffert also trained Rodriguez’s sire, 2020 Kentucky Derby winner Authentic.

5. American Promise (by Justify), D. Wayne Lukas, Nik Juarez, 30-1
   This one wasn’t showing a whole lot of promise until he jumped up to win the Virginia Derby at Colonial Downs in his last start — by an eye-catching 7 3/4 lengths and in track-record time. That’s just the kind of breakthrough race that can signal a real Kentucky Derby contender. But before that, his only victory from five starts came in an Oaklawn Park maiden event over a muddy track, and he was solidly defeated in the Grade III Southwest at Oaklawn Park and the Grade II Risen Star at Fairgrounds. So, will he replicate the Virginia Derby or regress to earlier form?

6. Admire Daytona (JPN) (by Drefong), Kato Yukihero, Christophe Lemaire, 30-1
   Yukihero and owner Junko Kondo started this colt down the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby," but after finishing fourth in the second leg, detoured to the Group 2 UAE Derby in Dubai. A win there guaranteed a spot in the Kentucky Derby, which they accepted. The Dubai effort was impressive, and it’s worth remembering that the 2024 UAE Derby was won by Forever Young, who finished third, beaten just two noses, in the Run for the Roses. Still, he’s been beaten twice by the other Japanese entry in this field. Again, Baffert trained the sire.

7. Luxor Café (by American Pharoah), Hori Noriyuki, Joao Moreira, 15-1
   The winner of the "Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby" with victories in two of the four legs of that series. After summering in Hokkaido, he returned south last autumn and since then has posted four straight wins, defeating Admire Daytona in two of them. His sire, winner of the 2015 Triple Crown and Breeders’ Cup Classic (dubbed the "Grand Slam"), is yet another trained by Baffert.

8. Journalism (by Curlin), Michael McCarthy, Umberto Rispoli, 3-1 (favorite)
   This very consistent colt is riding a four-race winning streak that includes victories in the Grade II Los Alamitos Futurity, the Grade II San Felipe and the Grade I Santa Anita Derby. Those are great credentials, but before heading to the windows to bet, be aware the three stakes races all featured five-horse fields including a few markedly inferior competitors. He will have to negotiate his typical late run among four times that many in the Derby. His margins of victory have shrunk as the distances increased, but his pedigree could see him through to the 1 1/4 miles. Favorite? Sure. Cinch. No.

9. Burnham Square (by Liam’s Map), Ian Wilkes, Brian Hernandez Jr., 12-1
   There are mixed signals here. He jumped into the Derby picture with a nice win in the Grade III Holy Bull at Gulfstream Park on Feb. 1, but then tossed in a clunker in the Grade II Fountain of Youth, finishing fourth and beaten 3 lengths. He reversed course again at Keeneland last month, winning the Grade 1 Blue Grass with a smooth late move, defeating some other Derby contenders. Hernandez got his first Derby win a year ago with a masterful ride on Mystik Dan.

10. Grande (by Curlin), Todd Pletcher, John Velazquez, 20-1
    Pletcher did not get him to the races at age 2, but he immediately showed promise this year with back-to-back wins at Gulfstream Park in January and February. He bounced from that directly to the Grade II Wood Memorial at Aqueduct and qualified for the Derby with a second-place finish behind Rodriguez. Pletcher is one of the country’s top trainers, but unlucky in the Derby with just two winners from 65 starters.

11. Flying Mohawk (by Karakonte (JPN)), Whitworth Beckman, Joe Ramos, 30-1
    Tough to sort this one out. His first five starts, all on grass, produced two wins that were enough to get him into the Grade III Jeff Ruby Steaks on the Turfway Park all-weather course. His second-place finish there behind Burnham Square earned enough qualifying points to get him into the Derby. If he figures at all in the outcome, it will be from off the pace. Beckman’s lone Derby starter, Honor Marie, finished eighth last year. Ramos gets his first Derby ride. The ownership team includes retired baseball star Jason Werth, who has embraced horse racing enthusiastically.

12. East Avenue (by Medaglia d’Oro), Brendan Walsh, Manny Franco, 20-1
    Here’s another case of mixed signals. This obviously talented colt won the Grade I Breeders Futurity at Keeneland last October, but was soundly trounced in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile a month later. He again showed little in the Grade II Risen Star at Fair Grounds in his 3-year-old debut, finishing 10th, beaten 22 3/4 lengths. But then he rallied to finish second, just a nose behind Burnham Square, in the Grade I Blue Grass at Keeneland. Owner Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai, has been chasing a Derby win for decades.

13. Publisher (by American Pharoah), Steve Asmussen, Irad Ortiz Jr., 30-1
    He enters the Kentucky Derby winless after seven starts, but a second-place finish in the Grade I Arkansas Derby was good enough to get into the field. Trainer Asmussen says he’s "always shown quality with some unfortunate trips." Asmussen should know. The Hall of Famer has saddled 26 Derby runners without a win and suffered heartbreaking losses with the likes of Epicenter in 2022. Asmussen also trained superstars and later top-notch sires Curlin, who finished third in 2007, and Gun Runner, who was third in 2016. Maybe both the horse and the trainer are due.

14. Tiztastic (by Tiz the Law), Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario, 20-1
    Here’s the slightly better-fancied of Asmussen’s two starters. He won his first start way back in September on the turf at Kentucky Downs, but then hit a four-race dry spell concluding with a second behind American Promise in the Virginia Derby. He finally returned to the winner’s circle after the Grade II Louisiana Derby, apparently enjoying an increase in distance. Asmussen says the long Churchill Downs stretch will be the colt’s best friend.

15. Render Judgment (by Blame), Kenny McPeek, Julien Leparoux, 30-1
    A second-place finish in the Virginia Derby was enough to get this one a spot in the starting gate. Other than that, though, he hasn’t shown the ability to run with this field, having finished behind many of the Derby competitors in multiple races. Trainer McPeek won last year’s Kentucky Derby with long shot Mystik Dan. And sire Blame handed super mare Zenyatta her only loss in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

16. Coal Battle (by Coal Front), Lonnie Briley, Juan Vargas, 30-1
    Trainer Briley, jockey Vargas and owner Robbie Norman are all Derby first-timers. The colt won the Remington Springboard mile in Oklahoma and the Smarty Jones and Grade II Rebel in Arkansas before fading late to finish third in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby. That progression indicates distance might be a problem or he just might not be fast enough for top-level rivals.

17. Sandman (by Tapit), Mark Casse, Jose Ortiz, 6-1
    He finished second in the Grade III Southwest Stakes and third in the Grade III Rebel at Oaklawn Park, both times coming up short with a late run from well back in the field. When the distance increased to 1 1/8 miles in the Grade I Arkansas Derby, he seemed to love the extra furlong and swept by the early leaders to win by 2 1/2 lengths. That looks like a potential winning formula for the Kentucky Derby, provided he doesn’t get stuck in traffic after starting from that No. 17 gate. Trainer Casse has won the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, the second and third jewels of the Triple Crown, but is 0-for-10 in the Derby.

18. Sovereignty (by Into Mischief), Bill Mott, Junior Alvarado, 5-1
    He won the Grade III Street Sense at Churchill Downs last October by 5 lengths, showing the sometimes quirky track is fine with him. His stock went higher when he won the Grade II Fountain of Youth at Gulfstream Park in his 3-year-old debut, but took a ding when he failed to sustain his usual late run in the Grade I Florida Derby, finishing second to Tappan Street. Tappan Street was eliminated from Kentucky Derby contention April 25 with a leg injury. Sovereignty is appropriately named as his owner, Godolphin, is helmed by Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of Dubai. But for the Florida Derby hiccup, he might be the favorite.

19. Chunk of Gold (by Preservationist), Ethan West, Jareth Loveberry, 30-1
    He won his career debut on the Turfway Park all-weather course. Since then, he has been second in three straight races, including the Grade II Risen Star and Grade II Louisiana Derby, both at Fair Grounds. It seems he will need a significant step forward to compete for the win at Churchill Downs. Trainer West is another Derby first-timer.

20. Owen Almighty (by Speightstown), Brian Lynch, Javier Castellano, 30-1
    The Gulf Coast of Florida sends this contender to Louisville. After finishing second in the Grade III Iroquois at Churchill Downs in September, he resurfaced at Tampa Bay Downs in the new year and finished second in the Sam F. Davis and won the Tampa Bay Derby. He had a bit of a rough trip in the Blue Grass at Keeneland and finished sixth, beaten by 4 1/4 lengths. He probably would have to improve on the Tampa Bay Derby performance to figure here.