Kentucky Derby 2013: Breaking Down Top Contenders at Churchill Downs

The 2013 Kentucky Derby is less than a week away, so it's worth taking a closer look at the horses that figure to be the top contenders in the first leg of the Triple Crown at Churchill Downs.

Renowned thoroughbred trainer Todd Pletcher has two of the four odds-on favorites as the numbers currently stand. However, two other horses in Orb and Goldencents enter the marquee race coming of off momentous victories of their own.

Here is a breakdown of the leading candidates to triumph in the Run for the Roses on Saturday, along with their odds of winning, which are courtesy of Bovada.

Verrazano (7-2)

The prohibitive favorite is Verrazano, who is a Pletcher-trained force and has yet to lose in four career starts—most recently winning with ease at the Wood Memorial Stakes.

Verrazano is particularly impressive considering he hadn't raced competitively at all until the beginning of 2013. The fact that he is even a favorite entering Churchill Downs is impressive enough—much less the top contender.

Pletcher recently articulated his thoughts about Verrazano and how the horse only seems to continue improving in terms of both strength and speed (h/t Kentucky Derby official Twitter page):

Considering how unstoppable Verrazano has been, the notion that he's only improving has to be scary for the rest of the field. He could easily give Pletcher his third Triple Crown win—and second at Churchill Downs.

Orb (5-1)

The only horse that matched Verrazano's impressive 150 points in the Kentucky Derby points standings was Orb (h/t The Daily Racing Form), who has won his past three races.

Orb is typically jockeyed by John R. Velasquez, but he will be perched atop Verrazano. However, the horse is in good hands with Joel Rosario entering the fold, as he is the second-leading jockey in terms of earnings in 2013, per Equibase.com.

Rosario's agent, Ron Anderson, recently described what makes his client so special as a jockey (h/t Jennie Rees of the Courier-Journal):

"

He’s just different...Not just his riding, but he’s just a different kind of person. He doesn’t have an ego. He has a confidence level when you’re around him that he knows he’s really good, but he’s not cocky. It’s not all about him or "look at me."

"

Steve Haskin of Bloodhorse.com was also wowed by Orb's performance thus far in Louisville, noting how Orb buck jumped coming down the stretch in a demonstration of comfort with the track.

Trainer Bob Baffert also told Haskin how impressed he was with Orb's form in the report.

It takes a different kind of horse to hold the same company with the likes of Verrazano, and Orb seems to have the chops to do just that. Thus, it comes as no surprise that he's the top threat to knock the undefeated Verrazano off his pedestal.

Goldencents (7-1)

What makes this horse unique is his ownership situation, as Louisville Cardinals head basketball coach Rick Pitino has a five percent stake in the three-year-old colt.

On the same night that Pitino coached the Cardinals to a comeback national semifinal victory over mid-major upstart Wichita State, Goldencents qualified for the Derby by winning the Santa Anita Derby.

Goldencents is trained by Doug O'Neill, whose I'll Have Another won at Churchill Downs last year and went on to win the Preakness Stakes for good measure. Unfortunately, his bid for a Triple Crown was derailed by a tendon injury that caused him to be scratched from the Belmont Stakes.

Renewed hope rests in Goldencents, though. Replicating the success of his top predecessor seems unlikely, but this is an extremely fast horse that successfully navigated a Grade 1 race on a tough dirt track at Santa Anita.

Revolutionary (7-1)

Although this is Pletcher's secondary horse to the preeminent Verrazano, don't sleep on Revolutionary, who has been dominant in his own right in winning three consecutive times.

After all, the only time that Pletcher entered a victorious horse at the Kentucky Derby was in 2010 with Super Saver, and he had slightly longer odds of winning at 8-1. That has to bode well for Revolutionary in some regard.

David Grening of the Daily Racing Form was stunned by how well Revolutionary looked in a recent workout:

Jockey Javier Castellano is the leading money winner amongst his peers in 2013, and he will be in the saddle for Revolutionary in this one (h/t Equibase.com).

If the man who's won more frequently than anyone lately is confident enough to take the saddle in this big of a race, the chances of Revolutionary winning have to be pretty strong.

Note: Past race information on all horses, unless otherwise indicated, is courtesy of Equibase.com.