The Kentucky Derby noticed a discipline of 18 horses Saturday within the first leg of the 2026 competitors for horse racing’s Triple Crown.
Golden Tempo, who entered the 1 1/4 mile race with 30-1 odds, defeated a discipline of 17 challengers, and made historical past for its coach, Cherie DeVaux, who turned the primary girl to coach a Derby winner.
Michael Reaves / Getty Photos
The Run for the Roses in Louisville, Kentucky, is the opening race for the Triple Crown, the collection for 3-year-olds that is historically adopted by the Preakness Stakes in Maryland and the Belmont Stakes in New York. The final time a horse swept all three races was in 2018, when Justify galloped his manner into the historical past books because the thirteenth Triple Crown winner.
2026 Kentucky Derby horses and odds
The sphere for the 1 1/4-mile Derby has been capped at 20 horses since 1975. Saturday’s scratches of The Puma and Nice White diminished the sphere for the 2026 Derby to 18. Renegade, with 4-1 odds, was picked because the morning-line favourite final Saturday by Nick Tammaro, the oddsmaker at Churchill Downs Racetrack, the house of the Derby.
The percentages will change as bettors make their wagers forward of Saturday’s Derby, the twelfth race of the day at Churchill Downs with an approximate put up time of 6:57 p.m. ET.
Since final week’s post-position draw, a complete of 5 horses have been scratched from the race: No. 20 Fulleffort, No. 5 Proper to Celebration, No. 13 Silent Tactic, No. 9 The Puma, and No. 21 Nice White. Three of the scratches occurred early sufficient for 3 different horses to attract into the sphere. Here is a listing of the horses racing within the Derby so as by put up place with their odds:
- 1. Renegade, 4-1
- 2. Albus, 30-1
- 3. Intrepido, 50-1
- 4. Litmus Take a look at, 30-1
- 6. Commandment, 6-1
- 7. Danon Bourbon, 20-1
- 8. So Comfortable, 15-1
- 10. Surprise Dean, 30-1
- 11. Incredibolt, 20-1
- 12. Chief Wallabee, 8-1
- 14. Potente, 20-1
- 15. Rising Market, 15-1
- 16. Pavlovian, 30-1
- 17. Six Pace, 50-1
- 18. Additional Ado, 6-1
- 19. Golden Tempo, 30-1
- 22. Ocelli, 50-1
- 23. Robusta, 50-1
Renegade drew the No. 1 put up for the Derby, the innermost place within the beginning gate the place horses are vulnerable to getting boxed in between the rail and the remainder of the sphere and falling behind early within the race. The put up hasn’t produced a Derby winner since Ferdinand received in 1986, and the final contender from the put up to complete within the prime three was Lookin At Lee, who got here in second in 2017.
Renegade and the opposite horses certified for the Derby by accruing factors from races held as way back as final September. The bay colt received the Arkansas Derby in March and Florida’s Sam F. Davis Stakes in February. Renegade additionally got here in second within the Remsen Stakes in New York Metropolis in December.
Michael Reaves/Getty Photos
Irad Ortiz Jr. will experience Renegade in what would be the jockey’s tenth Derby. Ortiz has but to complete within the cash within the Triple Crown opener. The 33-year-old has been shut, coming in what was in the end fourth place aboard Inconceivable in 2019, after the primary horse throughout the end line, Most Safety, was disqualified in a wild ending to the race. On the Belmont, Ortiz has ridden two horses to victory: Creator in 2016 and Mo Donegal in 2022.
Commandment and Additional Ado every obtained 6-1 odds within the morning line. Commandment received the Florida Derby in March, ending forward of one other Derby competitor, Chief Wallabee, who got here in third. The bay colt additionally received Florida’s Fountain of Youth Stakes in February, the place Chief Wallabee took second.
Luis Saez will likely be aboard Commandment for his thirteenth Derby. The 33-year-old’s greatest efficiency on the Derby got here in 2021, when Important High quality completed in fourth place however in the end moved as much as third after the winner, Medina Spirit, was stripped of his victory over a optimistic drug take a look at. 5 weeks after the Derby, Important High quality was below Saez for his first win on the Belmont. His second Belmont win got here when he was aboard Dornoch in 2024.
Additional Ado received the Blue Grass Stakes in Lexington final month and the Kentucky Jockey Membership Stakes at Churchill Downs in November. The chestnut colt got here in second at Florida’s Tampa Bay Derby in March.
John Velazquez could have the mount Saturday in pursuit of his fourth Derby win, his most up-to-date being in 2020 with Genuine after Medina Spirit was stripped of his 2021 victory. The 54-year-old has additionally received the Preakness with Nationwide Treasure in 2023 and the Belmont twice, with Union Rags in 2012 and the filly Rags to Riches in 2007.
Michael Reaves/Getty Photos
With 8-1 odds within the morning line, Chief Wallabee involves Churchill Downs with jockey Junior Alvarado and coach Invoice Mott, the identical duo behind Sovereignty’s wins final yr on the Derby and the Belmont.
The victories have been Alvarado’s first in every of the occasions. Within the Derby, the 39-year-old was fined $62,000 and suspended for 2 race days for utilizing his using crop excessively. He appealed, and the penalty was lowered to $31,000 and a one-day suspension.
Sovereignty was the second Derby winner educated by Mott. He additionally educated Nation Home, the shock winner of the 2019 race after Most Safety was disqualified. On the Belmont, Sovereignty introduced Mott his second win, 15 years after Drosselmeyer gave him his first in 2010.
Andy Lyons/Getty Photos
Mike Smith has probably the most Derby mounts of any jockey within the race’s historical past with 28, adopted carefully by Velazquez with 26. Smith will add to his depend with So Comfortable, who received 15-1 morning-line odds.
The bay colt received the Santa Anita Derby at Southern California’s Santa Anita Park final month forward of fellow Derby contenders Potente and Intrepido, who got here in second and fourth, respectively. So Comfortable additionally completed third within the San Felipe Stakes at Santa Anita in March, behind the first-place Potente and second-place Robusta.
Smith was aboard Justify for all three races throughout his Triple Crown marketing campaign in 2018. He additionally rode Giacomo to victory within the 2005 Derby.
Michael Reaves/Getty Photos
Rising Market was the opposite horse with 15-1 odds within the morning line. The chestnut colt received the Louisiana Derby in March with fellow Derby contenders Pavlovian and Golden Tempo in second and third, respectively.
Flavien Prat could have the mount, chasing his second Derby win after using Nation Home in 2019. The 33-year-old has come shut a number of instances lately, ending third with Baeza final yr, fourth with Catching Freedom in 2024 and third with Angel of Empire in 2023.
Bob Baffert has two probabilities this yr to develop into the coach with probably the most Derby wins, with Potente, who was given 20-1 odds within the morning line, and Litmus Take a look at, who received 30-1 odds. Baffert, who educated Justify and 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah, has been tied with Ben Jones at six all-time wins because the Baffert-trained Genuine received the 2020 Derby.
Michael Reaves/Getty Photos
Two different colts got 20-1 odds within the morning line: Danon Bourbon and Incredibolt.
Albus, Surprise Dean, Pavlovian and Golden Tempo have been among the many 4 different colts who received 30-1 morning-line odds.
The departures of Fulleffort, Proper to Celebration and Silent Tactic made room for Nice White, Ocelli and Robusta to enter the sphere, however Nice White was compelled to scratch proper earlier than the race. They have been amongst 5 horses given 50-1 odds within the morning line, together with Six Pace and Intrepido.
