Kentucky Derby 2016: Highlighting Early Contenders Ahead of Triple Crown Race

"The most exciting two minutes in sports" is less than two weeks away, as the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby takes place Saturday, May 7.

While the field of horses has not been announced as of yet, racing fans can get a good idea of who will be running thanks to the Kentucky Derby points standings:

Rank	Horse	Total Points
1	Gun Runner	151
2	Nyquist	130
3	Exaggerator	126
4	Outwork	120
5	Brody's Cause	114
6	Creator	110
7	Lani	100
8	Mor Spirit	84
9	Mohaymen	80
10	Danzing Candy	60
11	Destin	51
12	Suddenbreakingnews	50
13	Oscar Nominated	50
14	Shagaf	50
15	Whitmore	44
16	Tom's Ready	44
17	My Man Sam	40
18	Majesto	40
19	Trojan Nation	40
20	Mo Tom	32
21	Fellowship	32
22	Adventist	32

Top Contenders

Horse: Nyquist

Trainer: Doug F. O'Neill

Jockey: Mario Gutierrez (2012 Derby winner on I'll Have Another)

Nyquist is the early favorite to take the Kentucky Derby with 333-100 odds, according to Odds Shark.

He's undefeated in seven career races, including a 2-0 mark in 2016, with wins at Santa Anita and Gulfstream Park.

This horse, who is named after Detroit Red Wings forward Gustav Nyquist, packs a ton of natural speed and can make passes from almost anywhere on the track. He showed that off best during the Breeders' Cup Juvenile, where he was forced to the outside and still managed to mount a strong charge for the win. He was horse No. 13 in that race, as seen below:

"The two guys who scout horses for me...they loved the way the horse previewed," owner J. Paul Reddam of Reddam Racing told Jessica Golden of CNBC.com. "He didn't do the fastest preview, but they loved the way he covered the ground, his stride was so efficient."

Nyquist is such a strong horse in that he's at or near the front right out of the gates, which allows him to comfortably run his race. That's unlikely to change at Churchill Downs on May 7.

Horse: Exaggerator

Trainer: J. Keith Desormeaux

Jockey: Kent Desormeaux (1998 Derby winner on Real Quiet, 2000 Derby winner on Fusaichi Pegasus, 2008 Derby winner on Big Brown)

Exaggerator isn't as dominant as Nyquist is, though no horse in the prospective field has been over its short career.

The J. Keith Desormeaux-owned horse has finished in the top three in seven of his last eight races, but what helped his stock the most heading to the Kentucky Derby was this explosive come-from-behind victory at the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 9:

It also helped shorten his odds to 8-1, per Odds Shark.

Exaggerator will be representing a new home at Churchill Downs, as WinStar Farm acquired him Monday, much to the delight of WinStar President and CEO Elliott Walden, via Jonathan Lintner of the Courier-Journal:

"

Exaggerator has been among the best of his class for two seasons now. I love his consistency, his 2-year-old form, and his ability to stretch out and win the Santa Anita Derby. He's won at four different racetracks, east coast, west coast, it doesn't matter. Exaggerator is an extreme racehorse, and, physically, he's absolutely beautiful.

"

He'll have an opportunity to win at a fifth different race track May 7, where he's bound to give Nyquist a run for his money. With this kind of closing speed, no lead is going to be safe for any horse down the home stretch.

Stats courtesy of Equibase.com.