Kentucky Derby Contenders 2015: Odds, Value Bets and Underdogs Worth Backing

The elite of America's horse-racing community will descend upon Churchill Downs this Saturday for the Kentucky Derby, with many in attendance looking to make a mint on those taking part.

American Pharoah heads into this weekend's Run for the Roses as the standout favourite, but backing the top runner isn't necessarily where the money lies in such prestigious races as this.

The first leg of this year's Triple Crown sits up there as one of the most important events in racing, with many an outlying contender looking to burst from the pack and make their mark against the odds.

Read on for a discussion of several underdogs who might be worth backing, along with an updated look at the rest of the field's odds prior to Saturday's main event.

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Morning-Line Odds
1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	50-1
2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	8-1
3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	12-1
4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	30-1
5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	30-1
6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillion	Mike de Kock	20-1
7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	John Terranova II	30-1
8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	3-1
9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	30-1
10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	12-1
11	Stanford	Florent Geroux	Todd Pletcher	30-1
12	International Star	Miguel Mena	Mike Maker	20-1
13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	30-1
14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	50-1
15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	15-1
16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	50-1
17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	50-1
18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	5-2
19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	15-1
20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	30-1

All odds are correct as of April 29 but may be subject to change ahead of Saturday's race.

Frosted: 15-1

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Trainer Kiaran McLaughlin is perhaps most well-known for the conditioning work he's done in Dubai and the United Arab Emirates, but Frosted gives him a real shot of beginning this year's Triple Crown in style.

McLaughlin spoke on the performance he's expecting from his colt this weekend, via Blood-Horse's Claire Novak, and predicted a slow start with his best to come later in the race:

Jockey Joel Rosario made his Kentucky Derby debut only five years ago, but the Dominican Republic native is fast rising as an accomplished rider, having won the event just three years later, aboard Orb.

Frosted represents a supremely prestigious stable in Godolphin Racing and placed second in the Remsen Stakes six months ago, a good test of his ability over this kind of distance:

That being said, Frosted hasn't gone the full 1 ¼ miles but isn't far off and has shown useful form coming into the Derby, winning the Wood Memorial Stakes at Aqueduct earlier this month.

Rosario is a promising talent with a valuable mix of experience and youthful exuberance, and McLaughlin's input is sure to give the pair a well-timed plan before the race.

El Kabeir: 30-1

Rob Carr/Getty Images

El Kabeir may be near the bottom of the order on paper heading into Saturday's extravaganza, but the writing is on the wall that Calvin Borel will ride an outsider with more chance than most this weekend.

Borel himself is a three-time winner of the Kentucky Derby, triumphing in 2007, 2009 and 2010, and Churchill Downs paddock host Joe Kristufek has been left extremely impressed by El Kabeir:

Having competed six times since October 2014, El Kabeir is a lot more seasoned than some of those coming into the contest—which, while not as valuable as natural talent to some, is without doubt a major factor.

Perhaps even more significantly, El Kabeir is one of the few horses competing to already possess knowledge of the Kentucky track, having won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes last November.

With Borel's guidance and a cooler head than some of those in the field, El Kabeir may yet disprove the odds attached to his name and emerge closer to the head of the pack by the race's end.

Firing Line: 12-1

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Firing Line is an 12-1 outsider with an odd mix in his camp, boasting one of the most seasoned jockeys around in Gary Stevens but one of the youngest trainers in Simon Callaghan.

It could be a winning formula, though, as Stevens brings a wealth of wisdom to Saturday's meet, and Sportsbook Racebook quoted the veteran as being particularly enthused for this year's Derby:

Stevens has won a phenomenal nine Triple Crown races in total, three of which have been Kentucky Derbys, putting him among the most experienced figures in this year's race, if not the most.

To some, Stevens may even be over the hedge, but he finds himself atop a stellar candidate in Firing Line, who pushed the heavily backed Dortmund well in the Bob Lewis Stakes just two months ago:

Stevens knows what it takes to win a race of this calibre, and Firing Line is a genuine talent who, on his day, could be the outsider who tests the front-runners more than most are expecting.