“The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” will have its 149th edition on Saturday evening as the Kentucky Derby takes place at Churchill Downs.
This year, the famous 1 ¼ mile dirt race for 3-year-olds will have the maximum 20 runners, and the most fancied of those is Forte, currently the 4.50 favourite with William Hill.
※ Current Odds Date & Time: May 5th, 6:30 P.M. (BST)
From his six races, Forte, trained by Todd Pletcher, has won his last five. Four of those victories have come at Grade 1 level, including the Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park just over a month ago.
That 1 mile 1 furlong trip was the longest he has had to date, though with Irad Ortiz on board as usual he should have enough to go the extra furlong.
Pletcher, looking for his first Kentucky Derby triumph for six years, also has the second favourite, Tapit Trice, at 5.50. Unbeaten over his four outings, Tapit Trice won Keeneland’s Grade 1 Blue Grass Stakes last month for his first top-tier win. Luis Saez will be on board as he has been for the last three.
Flavien Prat is the first jockey to ride Brad H Cox’s Angel of Empire (7.50) for more than one race as they teamed up for victory in the Grade 1 Arkansas Derby in April.
Having raced in his native Japan, plus the UAE and Saudi Arabia, Derma Sotogake (10.00) will be making a first appearance in the USA. Hidetaka Otonashi gave the ride to Christophe Lemaire for a return to winning ways in the UAE Derby and the Frenchman will be on board on Saturday.
Kingsbarns (12.00) has just three races under his belt, the most recent being the Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds in March and was enough to qualify for the Kentucky race. Flavien Prat rode that day, so Todd Pletcher has handed the ride to Jose Ortiz.
Mage (13.00) was beaten by just a length by Forte in the Florida Derby having been beaten more soundly by the same horse a month earlier, while Verifying (13.00) was Tapit Trice’s closest challenger in the Blue Grass.
Mandarin Hero (15.00) is the second of the Japanese challengers and has been runner-up in his last two, the most recent being the Santa Anita Derby a few weeks ago. Also 15.00 is Skinner, one place further back in the Santa Anita.
Two Phil’s (17.00) and Confidence Game (21.00) both won their latest races while Hit Show (23.00) will race at Grade 1 level for the first time.
The remaining eight are between 34.00 and 51.00 in what should be an exciting renewal.
