Kentucky Derby Post Positions Revealed, Fierceness Still Betting Favorite
The First of the Triple Crown Races Will Take Place on Saturday, May 4th
Bring on the Hats!
In horse racing news, the rumors circulating that Sierra Leone would be this year’s favorite proved to be unfounded as Fierceness remains the bettors’ top choice at 5-2 while the Blue Grass Stakes winner is a close second at 3-1 odds.
Post Positions Set
The 150th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs will be broadcast live by NBC on Saturday, May 4, 2024, with post time slated for 6:57 PM ET. The post positions were drawn over the weekend where one of the more popular betting options, Sierra Leone, drew the No. 2 post while the favorite, Fierceness, will sprint from the outside at the No. 17 gate with veteran jockey, John Velazquez, aboard.
Post Positions for the 150th Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve. pic.twitter.com/E2DFN5poae
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 27, 2024
In total, there are 20 entries for this year’s Run for the Roses with two horses, Epic Ride (50-1) and Mugatu (50-1), also eligible but will be running only if one of the other 20 horses is scratched. According to the oddsmakers, this is expected to be a two-horse race but there are three other challengers that the pundits believe could contend.
Those include No. 4 Catching Freedom (8-1) with Flavien Prat aboard, No. 8 Just a Touch (10-1) ridden by Florent Geroux, and undefeated Japanese import Forever Young (10-1) out of the No. 11 post with jockey Ryusei Sakai looking to bring equine glory to his country by riding Japan’s first Kentucky Derby winning horse.
Happy Monday from Forever Young (JPN) and T O Password (JPN) 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/YwERV0AmIe
— Kentucky Derby (@KentuckyDerby) April 29, 2024
Billionaire Blues
American entrepreneur and self-made billionaire, Mike Repole, has had seven bites at the apple but none of them have resulted in a Kentucky Derby winner. However, while many extraordinarily wealthy people attempt to diminish their failures, Repole does quite the opposite and insists he has nine Kentucky Derby losses on his resume.
“I’ve had nine Derby horses, either by myself or with partners. I had seven horses that ran in the Derby and lost and two that were morning-line favorites (Forte and Uncle Mo) that were scratched, so I’m 0-for-9, even though I’ve only run seven times,” the Queens, N.Y., native said. “To me, when you scratch the morning-line favorite for the Derby, it’s a loss.”
“A horse like this calms you down”
A year after Forte’s Kentucky Derby scratch, Mike Repole has another chance with a favorite in Fierceness @WHAS11 pic.twitter.com/r8hAeazHei
— Mason Horodyski (@MasonHorodyski) April 26, 2024
As Repole stated, this will be the third time that Repole has entered the reigning 2-year-old champion. In an agonizing coincidence, last year’s two-year-old champ, Forte, was a race day scratch while Repole’s first two-year-old king, Uncle Mo, was scratched the day before the Derby in 2011.
Fierceness’ awards include a Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile victory at Santa Anita Park before the bay-colored colt followed that up with a record-setting 13 ½ length victory in the Grade I Florida Derby on March 30th.
“If the third time will be the charm, I don’t know,” Repole said about his three champions, all trained by Hall of Famer Todd Pletcher. “Maybe it’s the 10th time or 100th time. Maybe it never happens. The bottom line is that it’s a goal, a dream.”
