04/25/26 02:28:00
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04/25 14:26 CDT Todd Pletcher's Renegade draws the inside No. 1 post and opens
as the Kentucky Derby favorite
Todd Pletcher's Renegade draws the inside No. 1 post and opens as the Kentucky
Derby favorite
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) --- Renegade opened Saturday as the morning line favorite
for the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby, looking to overcome the inside
rail post position that has not produced a winner in four decades.
The colt trained by Todd Pletcher and set to be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. is 4-1
after drawing the No. 1 post in the field of 20 horses for the May 2 race. No
horse has finished first in the Derby from there since Ferdinand in 1986, and
the most recent to be in the top three was Lookin At Lee, who was second in
2017.
Trainer Brad Cox's No. 6 Commandment and No. 18 Further Ado are the second and
third choices on the morning line each at 6-1, followed by No. 12 Chief
Wallabee at 8-1 and The Puma at 10-1. Cox's third entrant is 20-1 long shot
Fulleffort, who drew the far-outside No. 20 post.
Cox's jaw dropped when he saw Fulleffort's draw, calling it "probably the one
I'm maybe not as wild about, as excited about as the other two. He was most
happy with Further Ado at No. 18, with three-time Derby-winning jockey John
Velazquez aboard.
"Very happy with that post: I wanted him to draw outside, and it looks like
there's some speed to the inside of him there," Cox said. "I do like the 6 with
Commandment. Hopefully he can break and go forward. It looks like there's a
little speed around him. He can maybe save some ground going into the first
turn, maybe even into the second turn."
Two-time Triple Crown champion Bob Baffert has two chances to win the Derby for
a seventh time and break a tie with Ben Jones for the most of any trainer,
saddling No. 4 Litmus Test (30-1) and No. 14 Potente (20-1). Litmus Test was
the last horse to get into the field earlier Saturday when Steve Asmussen and
owners decided Chip Honcho will skip the race and point toward the Preakness
Stakes on May 16.
A year after Bill Mott's Sovereignty won the Derby and then the Belmont Stakes,
son Riley is training his first two horses in the Triple Crown opener. He has
No. 2 Albus (30-1) and No. 11 Incredibolt (20-1).
His dad's bid to go back-to-back is Chief Wallabee.
"I don't know him right now," Riley Mott said. "He's our competition. Very
formidable, obviously, but we're just focused on our horses and trying to
control the things we can control --- unlike the draw. It's been fun just
trying to stay focused but enjoy the moment at the same time."
Rounding out the field are No. 3 Intrepido (30-1), No. 5 Right To Party (30-1),
No. 7 Danon Bourbon (20-1), No. 8 So Happy (15-1), Japan-bred No. 10 Wonder
Dean (30-1), No. 13 Silent Tactic (20-1), No. 15 Emerging Market (15-1), No. 16
Pavlovian (30-1), No. 17 Six Speed (50-1) and No. 19 Golden Tempo (30-1)
If there are scratches, there are four also-entered possibilities to join the
field: Great White, Ocelli, Robusta and Corona de Oro.
Post time for the race is set for 6:57 p.m. EDT.
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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing
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