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Kentucky Derby 2022 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Every Horse
May 2, 2022
The post-position draw for the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby is complete, and the morning-line odds are out too.
Here's a look at how everything will shake out alongside a look at some of the favorites leading into Saturday's running of the Derby, which currently sports a 6:57 p.m ET post time.
Kentucky Derby Post Positions (Morning-Line Odds)
1. Mo Donegal (10-1)
2. Happy Jack (30-1)
3. Epicenter (7-2)
4. Summer is Tomorrow (30-1)
5. Smile Happy (20-1)
6. Messier (8-1)
7. Crown Pride (20-1)
8. Charge It (20-1)
9. Tiz the Bomb (30-1)
10. Zandon (3-1)
11. Pioneer of Medina (30-1)
12. Taiba (12-1)
13. Simplification (20-1)
14. Barber Road (30-1)
15. White Abarrio (10-1)
16. Cyberknife (20-1)
17. Classic Causeway (30-1)
18. Tawny Port (30-1)
19. Zozos (20-1)
20. Ethereal Road (30-1)
Epicenter
Epicenter apparently couldn't look better as he goes through his final preparations for the Kentucky Derby.
"He is a machine. All his works look the same," Winchell Thoroughbreds manager David Fiske said to Alicia Hughes of Horse Racing Nation.
"I’ve been here for a month of Sundays and each one, if you put them on a screen together, you couldn’t tell one from another. He just knocks them out."
Epicenter is rolling into Churchill Downs on a two-race win streak after taking down the Risen Star Stakes and the Louisiana Derby. No horse amassed more Kentucky Derby points (164) than Epicenter, who will entered the Triple Crown race as one of its favorites.
Zandon
Trainer Chad Brown is very happy with how Zandon is looking right now.
“He’s a machine, this horse,” Brown said. “Super smooth. Very happy with how he went.”
Per Jay Privman of Daily Racing Forum, Zandon went out for his final workout on Friday. Daily Racing Form’s Mike Welsch timed Zandon's last quarter-mile at 24.14 seconds.
Zandon most recently won the Blue Grass Stakes. Ridden by Derby-winning jockey Flavien Prat, Zandon defeated Smile Happy by two-and-a-half lengths after catching the ex-leader while traversing through the pack of horses behind him.
Zandon's other race in 2022 was the Risen Star Stakes, where he took third behind Epicenter and Smile Happy.
White Abarrio
Trainer Saffie Joseph Jr. is impressed with White Abarrio, who got in a workout at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida before heading to Kentucky.
"Wow. That's all I can say is 'wow,'" Joseph said, per a press release (h/t Paulick Report). "He worked super. He worked super."
White Abarrio is 2-for-2 in 2022 with wins at the Holy Bull and the Florida Derby.
Tyler Gaffalione, who rode White Abarrio to victory at the Florida Derby, will guide him in Lexington. Gaffalione notably jockeyed War of Will for his 2019 Preakness victory.
Messier and Taiba
Messier, who is named after NHL legend Mark Messier, has finished either first or second in all six of his lifetime races. He most recently took second in the Santa Anita Derby behind Taiba but started his three-year-old tenure with a victory at the Robert B. Lewis Stakes.
Messier's training was transferred from Bob Baffert to Tim Yakteen in March.
The Kentucky Horse Racing Commission has suspended Baffert for 90 days after his horse, Medina Spirit, tested positive for the steroid betamethasone after winning the 2021 Kentucky Derby. Medina Spirit was soon disqualified.
Messier appeared on the Churchill Downs track for the first time early Monday at 5:30 a.m. ET, per Frank Angst of Bloodhorse.
Yakteen is also overseeing Taiba after taking over for Baffert. Taiba is looking to make history at Churchill Downs by becoming the first horse since Leonatus (1883) to win the Kentucky Derby in his third career start.
He's looked great through two starts, notably winning the Santa Anita Derby in April over Messier.
"My general feeling is that both horses are doing really super (following the Santa Anita Derby)," Yakteen said regarding Messier and Taiba. "They are both very professional and make my job easy."
Mo Donegal
Trainer Todd Fletcher has three horses in the Derby field in Mo Donegal, Charge It and Pioneer of Medina.
Mo Donegal would appear to be the favorite of the three after winning the Wood Memorial a month ago, and Fletcher has him taking it a bit easy in the run-up to the Kentucky Derby.
"We were looking to do a little bit less with Mo Donegal," he said, per Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier-Journal.
"He’s a horse that doesn’t require a whole lot of training. He’s coming back in four weeks off the Wood, so we were just looking for a couple of maintenance (half-miles) to keep him happy."
Mo Donegal showed his resolve at the Wood Memorial. Per Bob Ehalt of Bloodhorse, he rallied after finding himself last in the field of eight before catching up to leader Early Voting and beating him by a neck.
He'll be on the rail Saturday.