Sports
Derby favourite Forte was withdrawn from the race only hours before the 149th running of the Kentucky Derby was scheduled to begin, throwing a major kink into the chances boards. After a Saturday morning workout that clearly did not go as planned, Churchill Downs made their decision public.
Derby hopeful Strength, who entered the event on a five-race winning run, tripped during a workout on the Churchill Downs track on Thursday, but neither trainer Todd Pletcher nor co-owner Mike Repole mentioned the incident while speaking to the media. A veterinarian sent by the state racing commission looked over Forte after the Saturday work out.
Before being scratched from the Derby, Forte was a hefty 3-1 favourite with a favourable post position at 15. The chances board has moved Tapit Twice and Angel of Empire to the top two spots, with both horses currently at 9/2 odds.
The withdrawal of Strength from the Derby makes it the most horses to withdraw from a single Derby since 1936. It will be the smallest field size since at least 2020, when only 15 horses participated in a race that was postponed because to the Covid-19 outbreak.
The death of Specialty adds to a tragic week at Churchill Downs, where five horses have already died while warming up for this weekend’s races. At the University of Kentucky, an ongoing investigation including postmortem assessments is under way.
On Monday, the post positions for the Derby were drawn. Both Strike Show and Verifying, bred and raced by Brad Cox, finished in the money. On Saturday at Churchill Downs, Cox will have a total of four horses in the race.
Pletcher, an eight-time Eclipse Award winner, will still have a pair of novices competing: Tapit Trice and Kingsbarns, despite the elimination of the speciality. Follow this link to see every horse that is running in the Kentucky Derby, along with their trainers, jockeys, and owners.
There have been 148 winners of the Kentucky Derby, and 35 percent of them were odds-on favourites. Despite being an 80-1 long shot, Rich Strike managed to shock the world and win last year.
Who do you think will win the Kentucky Derby, and whose huge longshot do you absolutely have to wager on? Get Jody Demling’s picks for the Kentucky Derby and find out which huge longshots are in the race today on SportsLine. Demling is a specialist who has won 10 consecutive Derby-Oaks doubles.
In addition to the starting positions, each horse’s odds are listed below.
Sports 2023 Kentucky Derby post positions
Post #1: Breakout Success Post #2: Double-Check
Position Three Post #4: “Confidence Game” Post #5: “Tapit Trice” Post #6: “Kingsbarns”
Position 7, Reincarnate Position 8, Mage Position 9, Disarm Position 10
Place No. 10: 12 A message from Jace on Road No. 11: 13 Sun Thunder
Put up number 12: 14 Angel of Empire
Place No. 13: Raise Cain, Number 16
Place No. 14: 17 Skin Sotogake (in Japanese)
Put up number 15: Rocket Can No. 18
21 Cyclone Mischief is the sixteenth entry.
Position No. 17: “Mandarin Hero” Position No. 18: “King Russell”
Position No. 19 Open Position No. 20 Open
Horses 9 Skinner, 10 Practical Move, 15 Forte, 19 Lord Miles, and 20 Continuar were all scratched.
Sports 2023 Kentucky Derby chances
- Angel of the Empire – 4-1 Tapit Trice – 9-2 Derma Sotogake (JPN) – 7-1
2 Phil’s — 8-1 — 10-1 — Reincarnate — 13-1 — 17-1 — Self-Confidence Game — 17-1 — 17-1 — Mage — 17-1 — 17-1 — Confirming — 15-1 — Mandarin Hero (JPN)Deactivate (211), Strike (251), Show (261), Launch (261), Raise (27), Cain (30), Sun (30), Thunder (30).
King Russell, 32-1 Jace’s Road, 32-1 Cyclone Mischief, 30-1