The field was drawn Tuesday for Saturday’s 146th Kentucky Derby. Art Collector, an expected strong contender, was declared out earlier in the day due to an injury. The usual first leg of the Thoroughbred Triple Crown is the second leg in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Belmont and Travers winner Tiz the Law was made the 3-5 morning-line favorite after drawing post 17 in the field of 18. To get in on all the action, head to BetUS and punch your tickets. By the way, no horse has won the Derby from post 17!
1. Finnick the Fierce
Jockey: Martin Garcia
Trainer: Rey Hernandez
Career record: 9 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 2 thirds
Morning line: 50-1
Quote: “It shouldn’t be any problem with the distance,” Hernandez said. “It should be in our favor.”
2. Max Player
Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.
Trainer: Steve Asmussen
Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 2 thirds
Morning line: 30-1
Comment: “Extremely excited about how he is going to run in the Derby,” Asmussen said. “I love how he looks going over the racetrack here. He came in with a great attitude and traveling well and he still is.”
3. Enforceable
Jockey: Adam Beschizza
Trainer: Mark Casse
Career record: 10 starts – 2 wins – 2 seconds – 2 thirds
Morning line: 30-1
Quote: “I got called up a couple weeks ago by Mr. Casse and (assistant trainer) David Carroll, and they said, ‘Congratulations, you got the ride in the Kentucky Derby. Go win it,'” Beschizza said. “It’s huge. I’m very blessed with the opportunity by Mr. Oxley as well. He’d be familiar with the race, obviously, winning it back in 2001. “It’s going to be a lot different this year with no fans, but the race still is what it is. Just gotta have fun with it.”
4. Storm the Court
Jockey: Julien Leparoux
Trainer: Peter Eurton
Career record: 9 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 3 thirds
Morning line: 50-1
Comment: “At this stage, we feel he is better without them (blinkers) and is focused enough,” Eurton said. “When he was younger he was more distracted by other horses, especially after losing the jockey at Del Mar and they helped him focus.”
5. Major Fed
Jockey: James Graham
Trainer: Greg Foley
Career record: 6 starts – 1 win – 2 seconds – 1 third
Morning line: 50-1
Quote: “Oh man I couldn’t even. You’d probably have to wake me up,” Greg Foley said. “I’d probably pass out, just, that’s everybody’s dream, anybody who is in sports, the ultimate prize and that’s it in horse racing for sure.”
6. King Guillermo
Jockey: Samy Camacho
Trainer: Juan Avila
Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 1 third
Morning line: 20-1
Quote: “He really likes it in Kentucky,” Avila’s exercise rider Edgar Medina said. “Since we got here, he keeps doing better and better. Who knows what the future can hold for him.”
7. Money Moves
Jockey: Javier Castellano
Trainer: Todd Pletcher
Career record: 3 starts – 2 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds
Morning line: 30-1
Comment: “You can do some research,” Pletcher said in a telephone call Saturday afternoon from Saratoga. “I would say this is going to be one of the first horses making his stakes debut in the Kentucky Derby.”
8. South Bend
Morning line: 50-1
Comment: “He’s good. He’s been on a regular breeze schedule,” Mott said.
9. Mr. Big News
Morning line: 50-1
Comment: “I know we don’t have some of the numbers like Tiz the Law, Art Collector and Honor A.P., but this horse is improving,” owner Chester Thomas said. “I think he is absolutely going to love the distance and will make a big run late.”
10. Thousand Words
Jockey: Florent Geroux
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Career record: 7 starts – 4 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds
Morning line: 15-1
Comment: “A lot of crazy things happen in the Kentucky Derby,” Baffert said, “but if your horses are doing well, you might get lucky.”
11. Necker Island
Jockey: Miguel Mena
Trainer: Chris Hartman
Career record: 10 starts -2 wins – 0 seconds – 3 thirds
Morning line: 50-1
Comment: “I don’t think you can put it into words. There was a tweet that went out where someone saw us in the paddock at Ellis Park and they said ‘To see African Americans on a major race day is like seeing a unicorn.’ I think that sums it up,” part-owner Greg Harbut said. “We’re just not out there, we’re just not there. So the fact this is one of the top five, if not the most, prestigious races in the world, to have African-American ownership on this stage I think makes a statement. “I hope what it does is allow other African Americans to think about getting involved in the business and realizing they can participate, realizing there is room for them, and hopefully research more and understand that the history starts and begins with us in horse racing, particularly with the Kentucky Derby.”
12. Sole Volante
Jockey: Luca Panici
Trainer: Patrick Biancone
Career record: 7 starts – 4 wins – 1 second – 1 third
Morning line: 30-1
Comment: “He worked really well. We did a shorter work today (Friday, Aug. 28( to get a little speed into him,” said the trainer’s daughter and assistant Andie Biancone. “He worked very well and came back great.”
13. Attachment Rate
Jockey: Joe Talamo
Trainer: Dale Romans
Career record: 8 starts – 1 win – 3 seconds – 1 third
Morning line: 50-1
Quote: “He’s come out of the Ellis Derby in really good shape,” Romans said. “Obviously, we’ll be a longshot, but I really think this horse fits.”
14. Winning Impression
Jockey: Joe Rocco Jr.
Trainer: Dallas Stewart
Career record: 9 starts – 1 win – 1 second – 2 thirds
Morning line: 50-1
Comment: “We’re ready to go. You got to be in it to win it,” Stewart said.
15. Ny Traffic
Jockey: Paco Lopez
Trainer: Saffie Joseph Jr.
Career record: 9 starts – 2 wins – 3 seconds – 2 thirds
Morning line: 20-1
Comment: “Obviously, we are in a strange year, but in 30, 40 years when you look back, it doesn’t matter what year you’re in it,” Joseph said. “It’s still the Derby. If we can win it this year, it won’t mean any less. It will mean everything.”
16. Honor A. P.
Jockey: Mike Smith
Trainer: John Shirreffs
Career record: 5 starts – 2 wins – 3 seconds – 0 thirds
Morning line: 5-1
Quote: “I just wanted an easy seven eighths,” Shirreffs said after his horse’s workout Saturday at Del Mar. “He got it; we’re good to go. Now we just need a bit of luck. You need some of that in that race.”
17. Tiz the Law
Jockey: Manny Franco
Trainer: Barclay Tagg
Career record: 7 starts – 6 wins – 0 seconds – 1 third
Morning line: 3-5
Comment: “It couldn’t have been better,” said Jack Knowlton, the operating manager and founder of Sackatoga Stable, after Tiz the Law’s Saturday workout. “From what I heard, the track was a little fast, but it was a perfect work for him, as always. We were looking for something between :59 and 1:01, and he just goes out there and does his job.”
18. Authentic
Jockey: John Velazquez
Trainer: Bob Baffert
Career record: 5 starts – 4 wins – 1 second – 0 thirds
Morning line: 8-1
Quote: “He has an abundance of talent, but he still has some growing up to do,” said Mike Smith, who rode Authentic to victory in the Haskell. “He sees all kinds of things that aren’t even there really. Down the backside there’s a lot of shadows because the sun is setting right now, and he must have ducked at every one of them. He almost got me off at one point.”
