Kentucky Derby 2015 Post Positions: Complete Listing for Every Horse

The 2015 Kentucky Derby field is now set. NBC Sports Network held the draw for post positions on Wednesday with favorite American Pharoah landing in the No. 18 spot. Fellow top contenders Carpe Diem and Dortmund will break from the No. 2 and No. 8 gates, respectively.    

Although those three horses are the trio to beat, it's a very competitive group. A half-dozen or more horses could be in contention with a furlong to go in the first leg of the Triple Crown, and the winner will decided by whoever has the finishing kick on that particular day.

In other words, a repeat of the dominant showing California Chrome put together last year, when he was in cruise control down the stretch, seems unlikely. So let's check out all of the horses with a chance to etch their name into history on Saturday.

2015 Kentucky Derby Post Positions

Post	Horse	Jockey	ML Odds
1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	50-1
2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	8-1
3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	12-1
4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	30-1
5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	30-1
6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillon	20-1
7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	30-1
8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	3-1
9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	30-1
10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	12-1
11	International Star	Miguel Mena	20-1
12	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	30-1
13	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	50-1
14	Frosted	Joel Rosario	15-1
15	War Story	Joe Talamo	50-1
16	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	50-1
17	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	5-2
18	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	15-1
19	Far Right	Mike Smith	30-1
20	Frammento	Corey Nakatani	50-1
-	Also Eligible	-	-
n/a	Tale of Verve	Brian Hernandez Jr.	n/a

Horses listed as also eligible only get entered into the Kentucky Derby if one of the 20 slotted horses is scratched before Friday morning at 9 a.m. ET.

Race Information

Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky

When: Saturday, May 2, at 6:24 p.m. ET

Watch: NBC

Live Stream: NBC Sports Live Extra

Preview

Few things in sports match the sheer intensity of the Kentucky Derby when the field turns for home—20 amazingly athletic horses galloping around the corner as the roar of the crowd from beneath the twin spires reaches a crescendo.

The atmosphere is outstanding. The only thing that can make it more memorable is a mad dash to the finish line with a handful of horses involved, a photo finish to determine which horse will chase the Triple Crown and which ones become also-rans.

As mentioned, the strength of this year's field makes that a real possibility. Ramiro A. Restrepo of the Thoroughbred Acquisition Group believes it's the most complete group he's seen in more than three decades of tracking the "fastest two minutes in sports":

American Pharoah is getting the most hype, and rightfully so.

After a forgettable debut in a maiden special weight race at Del Mar racetrack, the colt has rattled off four straight impressive victories. Three of them came in Grade I stakes races, including the Arkansas Derby, where he ran away from the field down the stretch to establish himself as the favorite for Saturday.

One of the horses with the best chance to knock him off is fellow Bob Baffert trainee Dortmund. He's undefeated through six career races. His two best runs came in the Los Alamitos Futurity in December and the Santa Anita Derby in his final run before Kentucky Derby.

Dortmund, as many have heard by now, was sired by Big Brown. Even without that knowledge, it probably would have been one of the first guesses of many horse racing fans upon getting a glimpse of the contender on the track.

He's a physically imposing presence that, at least for now, seems capable of handling the grueling Triple Crown schedule.

Between American Pharoah and Dortmund, Baffert has a terrific chance of capturing his fourth Kentucky Derby win this week. That said, the Kentucky Derby Twitter account passed along comments from the longtime trainer, who understands it's impossible to count anybody out:

Then there's Carpe Diem.

A winner in four out of his five starts, he edged fellow Derby horses Danzig Moon and Ocho Ocho Ocho in the Blue Grass Stakes. It was a positive sign about the direction of his form during the final tune-up before the Triple Crown got underway.

His only loss was more about a strong showing from Texas Red in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile last November than anything else. In fact, his time there was stronger than his win in the Tampa Bay Derby over the same distance. So it's not a major concern.

Among horses outside the top three, one worth strongly considering is Firing Line.

While he's won just two of his last four starts, the losses came to Dortmund. He was competitive in both instances but just couldn't finish the job. The connections just have to hope he can find that last kick this time around.

Now that the posts are decided, it will be interesting to see if any particular horse starts getting more attention. Starting position is often an overlooked factor, especially with such a crowded field. The only real surprise would be if somebody overtakes American Pharoah as the favorite.

Even amid a terrific set of challengers, he's at the head of the class.

Prediction: American Pharoah