2015 Kentucky Derby: Post Positions, Odds and Race Schedule for Churchill Downs

We knew the names. Now we know where the top contenders for the 2015 Kentucky Derby will be positioned.

Wednesday came with the good and bad news for trainer Bob Baffert, who saw pre-race favorite American Pharoah draw the No. 18 post and second favorite Dortmund land at No. 8. There has only been one winner from the No. 18 post in race history (Gato Del Sol in 1982), while the No. 8 spot has produced a solid eight champions. 

"As long as there's been a winner (from that gate)," Baffert said, per Gary Mihoces of USA Today "I didn't want to carry that with me. But it takes a good horse to win it. I mean the break is going to be so important.''

While Baffert and Pharoah will have their work cut out, the trainer's confidence is not unfounded. Pharoah heads into the first leg of the Triple Crown as one of the most dominant three-year-olds in recent memory. He won the Arkansas Derby by eight lengths and the Rebel Stakes by 6 ½ lengths, scampering past a number of Derby horses to establish himself as a clear favorite.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

"I have been doing this for 35 years and he might be the best horse I've ever seen," said private clocker and bloodstock agent Gary Young, per Dick Jerardi of the Philadelphia Daily News. "He's simply like Michael Jordan and stays in the air like he did in his rookie year. He stays in the air longer than any horse, and you get the feeling that there's not one gear left, but he may have two, three or four gears."

The Vegas odds, for now, still seem to be in Pharoah's favor. Odds Shark has him pegged as a 5-2 favorite, a tick ahead of Dortmund and well clear of a field that increasingly looks like it's racing in a two-horse contest. Carpe Diem at 8-1 is the only other horse with so much as single-digit odds.

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Morning-Line Odds
1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	50-1
2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	8-1
3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	12-1
4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	30-1
5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	30-1
6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillon	Mike de Kock	20-1
7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	John Terranova II	30-1
8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	3-1
9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	30-1
10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	12-1
11	Stanford	Florent Geroux	Todd Pletcher	30-1
12	International Star	Miguel Mena	Mike Maker	20-1
13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	30-1
14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	50-1
15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	15-1
16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	50-1
17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	50-1
18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	5-2
19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	15-1
20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	30-1

Date	Time	Network	Stream
Saturday, May 2	6:25 p.m.	NBC	NBC Live Extra

All of which speaks to the level of brilliance reached by Pharoah and Dortmund heading into their defining moment this weekend.

Dortmund might be the only 3-1 horse in history to be the underdog in his own stable. The colt has reeled off six straight victories to start his career, including the Santa Anita Derby and San Felipe Stakes. Add in his pedigree—he's the son of Big Brown—and you might expect Baffert to be as complimentary to Dortmund as he is to Pharoah.

Yet, when asked whether the undefeated Dortmund was a good comparison to Kentucky, Baffert was surprisingly dismissive. 

"He is not UK," Baffert told Jennie Rees of USA Today. "You're getting carried away. He might be Arizona, but he's not UK. American Pharoah might be my UK; we'll find out. The talent is there. You just have to see it race by race."

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

The attention paid to Dortmund and Pharoah would typically leave one to surmise that there isn't much secondary talent out there. That would be a mistake.

While he doesn't have a clear superstar in his stable, two of Todd Pletcher's four horses look like solid potential spoilers. Carpe Diem and Materiality will enter the race side by side in the No. 2 and 3 posts, respectively. Carpe Diem enters having won the Blue Grass Stakes and Tampa Bay Derby earlier this year, building on his second-place outing in the Juvenile Breeders' Cup race.

"There is very little I would change about the work," Pletcher said of Carpe Diem, per Alicia Wincze Hughes of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "He was very settled. It was a very good, progressive breeze, and he picked it up each eighth. He galloped out good, very happy with everything."

Materiality is a bit more of a mystery. He did not race as a two-year-old, instead making his debut in January and instantly making an impact. It took a triumph in the Florida Derby to really get people talking, but Materiality has a chance to make an impact.

Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

The Pletcher horse with the best chance will likely be decided on the starting gate. Whichever of the two gets out of the break first and establishes his position inside will likely wind up finishing ahead. Odds are the crash toward the middle following the gun will wind up enveloping one—if not both—of the horses.

High among the less starry names are Firing Line and Frosted, who each benefit from their world-class jockeys. Gary Stevens and Joel Rosario each boast Kentucky Derby championships under their belt, the former being a living legend and the latter one of the world's current best. All combined, this field is among the deepest in recent memory. 

"This is my 35th Derby, and I've been going through past performances trying to find a field with comparable talent and depth," NBC's Randy Moss told Childs Walker of The Baltimore Sun. "There are a few but not many."

All of which makes American Pharoah's journey so much fun to watch. Taking down the Arkansas Derby field by eight lengths was impressive. Taking down this field from the No. 18 post might offer a prelude to a Triple Crown.

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