2025 Kentucky Derby Odds, Post Positions, Picks: Journalism the Morning Line Favorite
Kentucky Derby odds are heating up, now that the draw for post positions is through and the field is set. A full 20-horse field heads to the gates at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 3.
Journalism drew the eighth post and is the 3/1 favorite in 2025 Kentucky Derby odds. Journalism is followed by Sovereignty and Sandman, and five horses have odds of 8/1 or shorter.
Check back regularly for updates on odds to win the Kentucky Derby, and use our TwinSpires offer code to get the most out of your action in 2025.
Updated on 4/30/25
2025 Kentucky Derby Odds
Leaders of the Pack
UPDATE 2 P.M. ET TUESDAY: It's not a matter of if Journalism will be favored when the gates drop Saturday. It's a matter of how short his price will be on the Kentucky Derby odds board, according to respected horse race oddsmaker/analyst Ed DeRosa of Horse Racing Nation.
After last weekend's post draw, Journalism was made the 3/1 favorite.
"The biggest question is whether he'll be 2/1 or 3/1, or even in between at 5/2," DeRosa said. "The second and third choices will be Sovereignty and Sandman.
"I think Sandman will go lower, because he actually won his last race, is a grey and has a Metallica tie-in."
Indeed, Sandman's name pays tribute to the Metallica megahit Enter Sandman. And the band has even shown interest in the horse, with good reason.
In his final Derby prep, on March 29, Sandman won the Arkansas Derby. Under jockey Jose Ortiz, Sandman covered 1 1/8 miles in 1 minute, 50.08 seconds, beating fellow Derby entrants Publisher and Coal Battle.
The only potential issue for Sandman: He drew the 17th post, which has never produced a winner in the Run for the Roses. Sandman is the 5/1 third choice in odds to win the Kentucky Derby.
Favored Journalism comes in even hotter. In order, he won the Los Alamitos Futurity, the San Felipe Stakes and the Santa Anita Derby. In that final win, under jockey Umberto Rispoli, Journalism went 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.56.
In the 18th post is Sovereignty, even further out that Sandman. Sovereignty won the Street Sense in October and the Fountain of Youth on March 1. In the March 29 Florida Derby, he took second to Tappan Street, who is also running in the Kentucky Derby.
Under jockey Junior Alvarado, Sovereignty is the 9/2 second choice, behind Journalism.
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Going For Gold
De Rosa cited one horse he thinks merits a look as an under-the-radar pick in Kentucky Derby odds: Chunk of Gold, currently 20/1.
"My long-shot selection is Chunk of Gold. I loved that he was a little closer to the pace his last time out. He should improve here," De Rosa said.
Chunk of Gold's last race was the 1 3/16-mile Louisiana Derby, just shy of the Kentucky Derby's 1 1/4 miles. Chunk of Gold finished second to Tiztastic, another horse in Saturday's first leg of the Triple Crown.
Kentucky Derby Post Positions 🏇
- Citizen Bull (20-1)
- Trainer: Bob Baffert
- Jockey: Martin Garcia
- Neoequos (30-1)
- Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr
- Jockey: Flavien Prat
- Final Gambit (30-1)
- Trainer: Brad Cox
- Jockey: Luan Machado
- American Promise (30-1)
- Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas
- Jockey: Nik Juarez
- Admire Daytona (30-1)
- Trainer: Yukihiro Kato
- Jockey: Christophe Lemaire
- Rodriguez (6-1)
- Trainer: Bob Baffert
- Jockey: Mike Smith
- Luxor Cafe (10-1)
- Trainer: Noriyuki Hori
- Jockey: Joao Moreira
- Journalism (3-1)
- Trainer: Michael McCarthy
- Jockey: Umberto Rispoli
- Burnham Square (8-1)
- Trainer: Ian Wilkes
- Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr.
- Grande (50-1)
- Trainer: Todd Pletcher
- Jockey: John Velazquez
- Flying Mohawk (50-1)
- Trainer: Whit Beckman
- Jockey: Joe Ramos
- East Avenue (15-1)
- Trainer: Brendan Walsh
- Jockey: Manny Franco
- Publisher (20-1)
- Trainer: Steve Asmussen
- Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.
- Tiztastic (15-1)
- Trainer: Steve Asmussen
- Jockey: Joel Rosario
- Render Judgement (50-1)
- Trainer: Kenny McPeek
- Jockey: Julien Leparoux
- Coal Battle (20-1)
- Trainer: Lonnie Briley
- Jockey: Juan Vargas
- Sandman (5-1)
- Trainer: Mark Casse
- Jockey: Jose Ortiz
- Sovereignty (9-2)
- Trainer: Bill Mott
- Jockey: Junior Alvarado
- Chunk of Gold (20-1)
- Trainer: Ethan West
- Jockey: Jareth Loveberry
- Owen Almighty (50-1)
- Trainer: Brian Lynch
- Jockey: Javier Castellano
2025 Kentucky Derby Info
Race: 12
Purse: $5 million
Distance: 1 1/4 Miles
Surface: Dirt
Date: Saturday, May 3, 2025
Post-Time: 6:57 p.m. ET
TV: NBC
Venue: Churchill Downs
Location: Louisville, Ky.
The Kentucky Derby field has a maximum of 20 horses, who must qualify to enter. The qualifying process is often termed Road to the Kentucky Derby. Horses compete in set races to earn points toward qualification.
2024-25 Kentucky Derby Prep Results
Kentucky Derby Online Betting 2025
Hundreds of thousands of fans look forward to betting on the Kentucky Derby. Odds and predictions will change as the 151st Kentucky Derby draws near.
Some prefer early Kentucky Derby online betting, perhaps in the futures market, before the draw is held. Others wait for the day of the Run for the Roses to place their bets.
From there, where should you place your bet? VegasInsider recommends official Kentucky Derby Betting Partner TwinSpires.
Morning Line Odds for the Kentucky Derby are available during race week. The official morning-line odds are announced after the post positions for the field have been set.
Types Of Kentucky Derby Betting
Futures Betting
Kentucky Derby futures wagering is a great option for all those who enjoy early betting. This type of bet is usually available throughout the Road to the Kentucky Derby prep races.
Win, Place & Show Bets
Win, place and show bets are types of wagers that new players usually stick to. Just like the name suggests, a win bet is a bet placed on the horse that you hope to win the Kentucky Derby.
With place bets, you can get a return if your selection finishes first, second, or sometimes even fourth or fifth depending on the bookie’s offer. It goes without saying that the odds are much lower, but this type of bet is more reassuring.
Show bet is the next in line. It’s quite simple - you win if your selection finishes in the top three. As you probably imagine, this bet comes with lower risk, but also a lower payoff.
Of course, it’s up to you to decide which one of these options is the best for you. There are also some other, maybe slightly more complicated types of wagers. But once you get familiar with them, you’ll see that they can be easily understood. So, let’s get started!
Exacta Bet
If you’ve already tried some of the previous types of bets and you’d like to try something new when it comes to Kentucky Derby online betting, exacta is the next one on our list we’d like to discuss.
In this type of bet, you have to choose two runners who you’ll think will finish first and second, but in exact order. That’s what makes this type of bet more complicated compared to those we discussed earlier. Of course, bigger risk means bigger potential payouts.
Trifecta Bet
Another type of bet that you can try is trifecta bet. It’s similar to an exacta, but just like the name suggests, this type of wager involves three horses. Choose three runners you think will finish in the top three, in the exact order, and wait for the outcome of the race.
If the “exact order” part of the bet is what bothers you, there’s another option called a boxed trifecta wager. With this modified trifecta bet, you also have to choose three horses, but the order is not important.
History Of The Kentucky Derby
Capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival, the race is also known as "the most exciting two minutes in sports".
Popularly called the Run for the Roses because of the blanket of roses draped over the Derby winner, the first Derby took place in 1875. Since then, it has been held annually in Louisville, Ky., without interruption – not even during the Great Depression and both World Wars.
The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes, then the Belmont Stakes.
Only 13 horses have won all three races in the Triple Crown, in those 151 runnings. Justify was the last horse to win the Triple Crown, in 2018.
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150th Kentucky Derby Betting Results
Mystik Dan, an 18-1 betting choice, surprised the 2024 Kentucky Derby field and captured the race behind jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. as he rode the rail for the victory by a nose.
Trainer Kenny McPeek had an incredible weekend for himself as he won the Kentucky Oaks a day prior.
McPeek became just the third trainer to win the Kentucky Oaks and the Kentucky Derby in the same year, a feat accomplished for just the fourth time in the 150-year history of both races.
It was the first Kentucky Derby win for both Hernandez Jr. and McPeek. Along with this win, McPeek now has three Triple Crown victories with prior wins coming in the 2002 Belmont Stakes and 2020 Preakness Stakes.
Mystik Dan, racing from the 3 post, covered the 1 1/4 miles in 2:03.34 and returned $39.22 for a $2 win bet.
The second betting choice, Sierra Leone, ended up second in the race, as well. Japanese product Forever Young was right behind in third place.
The 17 horse, Fierceness, went off as the 5/2 betting favorite and finished 15th as he ran out of gas late.
2024 Kentucky Derby Results
(Win-Place-Show)
1) 3 Mystick Dan ($39.22, $16.32, $10.00)
2) 2 Sierra Leone ($6.54, $4.64)
3) 11 Forever Young ($5.58)
2024 Kentucky Derby Payouts
With an 18/1 runner in Mystick Dan taking first place, the exacta, trifecta and superfecta tickets were all extremely high:
- $2 Exacta (3–2): $258.56
- $0.50 Trifecta (3–2–11): $556.92
- $1 Superfecta (3–2–11–4): $8,254.07
- $1 Super High Five (3–2–11–4–10): $316,920.10
2024 Kentucky Derby Finish Order
Finish order, with post in parentheses and each horse's odds:
- (3) Mystik Dan 18/1
- (2) Sierra Leone 3/1
- (11) Forever Young 10/1
- (4) Catching Freedom 8/1
- (10) T O Password 30/1
- (19) Resilience 20/1
- (18) Stronghold 20/1
- (7) Honor Marie 20/1
- (14) Endlessly 30/1
- (1) Dornoch 20/1
- (12) Track Phantom 20/1
- (13) West Saratoga 50/1
- (15) Domestic Product 30/1
- (21) Epic Ride 50/1
- (17) Fierceness 5/2
- (20) Society Man 50/1
- (6) Just Steel 20/1
- (16) Grand Mo the First 50/1
- (5) Catalytic 30/1
- (8) Just a Touch 10/1
Kentucky Derby Winners (Last 10)
2024 - Mystik Dan
2023 - Mage
2022 - Rich Strike
2021 - *Medina Spirit (Mandaloun)
2020 - Authentic
2019 - Country House
2018 - Justify
2017 - Always Dreaming
2016 - Nyquist
2015 - American Pharoah
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