2012 Kentucky Derby Entries: Well-Trained Underdogs That Are Sure to Cause Havoc

There is so much to consider when picking a Kentucky Derby winner that all of the information is enough to make your head spin.

One vital thing that shouldn't be forgotten, though, is who the horse's trainer is. No horse is going to win simply because it has a solid trainer, but some trainers have long track records of success for good reason.

Many of the top horses in the field are led by excellent trainers, but there are some horses who are afterthoughts that have had good training as well. That isn't to say that the training will automatically make them threats to win the race, but these horses are about as well prepared as any in the field.

Here are three underdogs who, with the guidance of Hall-of-Fame-caliber trainers, will make some noise in the run for the roses.

Optimizer

Things may not look great for Optimizer on the surface as he is a 50/1 shot who is starting from the No. 2 post position, but with the training of the legendary D. Wayne Lukas, you never know what Optimizer might be able to pull out of his hat.

Lukas may very well be the most successful horse trainer of all time as he has won the Preakness five times, the Belmont four times and most importantly, the Kentucky Derby four times.

He has been going through a Triple Crown dry spell as one of his horses haven't won a big-three race since 2000, but nobody in the profession has more experience than he does. It's going to come down to how Optimizer executes on the track and how jockey Jon Court guides him, but Lukas has done everything he can to put Optimizer in a position to succeed.

El Padrino

At 20/1 it probably wouldn't be an absolute shock if El Padrino crossed the finish line first, but he's certainly one horse that hasn't gotten a ton of hype in the media.

Not only does he have a decent post position for his skill set at No. 16, but he is trained by a man who many consider to be the best in the sport today in Todd Pletcher. For years, Pletcher was called the best trainer never to win a Kentucky Derby, but he finally got his first in 2010, thanks to Super Saver.

With one under his belt, you would figure that Pletcher will start to stockpile them in the coming years.

Most prognosticators have called this a wide open field as the top horses don't have a lot of separation between each other, and what that means is that pretty much anyone can win.

I find it hard to believe that a horse that has been trained as well as El Padrino is only 20/1, so I would expect him to be in the mix.

Liaison

Most of the focus is on the Bob Baffert-trained Bodemeister who is currently the odds-on favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, but Baffert has another horse in the field as well, in the form of Liaison. He is among the longest shots in the field at 50/1 and will start on the extreme outside at post position No. 20, but that doesn't mean that he should be written off. Baffert has had three horses win the Kentucky Derby, and I'm sure he's itching to put some more hardware in his trophy case. 

Many horses have come from behind late to win the Kentucky Derby in recent years, and with Liaison starting so far outside, he may have to take that route as well.

It's tough to say whether Liaison possesses the natural ability to compete with the big boys in this race, but Baffert knows what it takes to mold a winner, so he's going to be someone to watch on Saturday.