Kentucky Derby 2015 Horses: Names, Pedigree Info and Ratings for All Entries

The culmination of this year's two-week long Kentucky Derby Festival arrives with the 2015 Run for the Roses, the world's most prestigious 20-horse race.

Heritage plays a major role in the success of each runner. True potential is locked within each horse's pedigree, as winners have a great chance of breeding further successes. Plenty of firm favourites, outside shots and so-called dark horses are ready to line up for Saturday's race.

Let's take a look at this year's field, their parents and ratings, as reported by the Kentucky Derby's official website.

Rank	Horse	Sire	Dam	Points
1	International Star	Fusaichi Pegasus	Parlez	171
2	Dortmund	Big Brown	Our Josephina	170
3	Carpe Diem	Giant's Causeway	Rebridled Dreams	164
4	American Pharoah	Pioneerof the Nile	Littleprincessemma	160
5	Frosted	Tapit	Fast Cookie	113
6	Mubtaahij	Dubawi	Pennegale	100
7	Materiality	Afleet Alex	Wildwood Flower	100
8	El Kabeir	Scat Daddy	Great Venue	95
9	Upstart	Flatter	Party Silks	76
10	Far Right	Notional	Zindi	62
11	Itsaknockout	Lemon Drop Kid	Stormy	60
12	Firing Line	Line of David	Sister Girl Blues	58
13	Danzig Moon	Malibu Moon	Leaveminthedust	45
14	War Story	Northern Afleet	Belle Watling	44
15	Tencendur	Warrior's Reward	Still Secret	41
16	Stanford	Malibu Moon	Rosy Humor	40
17	Mr. Z	Malibu Moon	Stormy Bear	34
18	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Street Sense	Winner	30
19	Bolo	Temple City	Aspen Mountain	30
20	Keen Ice	Curlin	Medomak	22

With the competition detailed, here's a rundown of the top contenders for the main prize:

Carpe Diem

Garry Jones/Associated Press

One of the better-known horses on a global scale, Carpe Diem is trained by Todd Pletcher, who won the 2010 Kentucky Derby with Super Saver. This horse is the son of Giant's Causeway, a sire famed for his tremendous stamina.

Carpe Diem has emerged victorious in four of his last five starts, winning the Blue Grass Stakes and Tampa Bay Derby since the turn of 2015. Both of these victories came on courses that are shorter than Churchill Downs' 1 ¼-mile run, so Carpe Diem's stamina is expected to come into play when the extra yards are needed.

America's Best Racing tweeted an image of the powerful specimen during training:

Dortmund

Uncredited/Associated Press

Many will remember Big Brown, Dortmund's sire, a horse who promised great things at the 2008 Kentucky Derby but was subsequently hampered by injury. Now looking to capitalise where his stud couldn't, Dortmund has won each of his last four races.

Trainer Bob Baffert is an experienced Kentucky Derby winner. He captured back-to-back titles in 1997 and 1998, with Silver Charm and Real Quiet taking the plaudits, respectively. Baffert added to this in 2002 when War Emblem secured the prize.

Although Dortmund's dam, Our Josephina, was only a winner on a minor scale, Baffert will be confident of outlasting the competition and landing his fourth success at the famous race.

International Star

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Leading the points stakes heading into the Kentucky Derby, International Star is considered the favourite by many. The three-year-old colt descends from sire Fusaichi Pegasus and dam Parlez, the former of which won the 2000 iteration of this race.

Three wins in a row will give trainer Mike Maker real confidence as the headline event approaches. International Star has proved more dominant in longer-distance races in recent times, winning his last three meetings on courses over a mile long. The extra length of the Kentucky Derby track could pay dividends with this in mind. 

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Saturday's race begs to throw up plenty of drama, shocks and surprises. Form provides us with an indication of which horses to look out for, but the field is packed with potential winners.

There's huge money to be made for trainers, jockeys and punters alike, with a top performance separating each horse from one of the sport's most coveted prizes.