Kentucky Derby 2015 Horses and Jockeys with Best Post Positions and Field Odds

The upcoming weekend in sports has something for every type of fan, but there's no doubt the biggest party will be at Churchill Downs for the 2015 Kentucky Derby. 

The event surrounding the first Triple Crown race of the year always transcends the race itself, attracting hundreds of thousands to Louisville to sip Mint Juleps, dress in their brightest clothes and pack the infield. Oh, and there's also a race to run that happens to be the biggest in the sport. 

There's never a shortage of impressive horses in a Derby field, but this one looks especially stacked with more horses boasting win streaks than you can count on one hand. Let's take a look at three of the best below after providing a glance at the post positions and latest odds.

2015 Kentucky Derby Post Draw and Odds

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Latest Odds
1	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	50-1
2	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	9-1
3	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	14-1
4	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	50-1
5	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	50-1
6	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillion	Mike de Kock	14-1
7	El Kabeir	Calvin Borel	John Terranova II	33-1
8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	13-4
9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	33-1
10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	16-1
11	Stanford	Florent Geroux	Todd Pletcher	40-1
12	International Star	Miguel Mena	Mike Maker	20-1
13	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	33-1
14	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	50-1
15	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	16-1
16	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	50-1
17	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	40-1
18	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	11-4
19	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	22-1
20	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	33-1

Odds courtesy of Odds Shark.

Horses/Jockeys with Best Odds 

American Pharoah (Victor Espinoza): 11-4

Garry Jones/Associated Press

American Pharoah has just about everything going except a good post position heading into the 141st Run for the Roses.

The unanimous leader in a field chock-full of favorites drew a No. 18 post position that doesn't sit well in the history books, which could spell doom for American Pharoah. Rick Bozich of WDRB-Louisville highlights the struggles from horses in the 18th spot:

Everything else about this horse indicates the favorite status is far from ill-advised.

He's won four of the five races he's saddled up for in his career, including the Arkansas Derby in April. Trainer Bob Baffert hasn't won the Kentucky Derby since 2002, but he does have three Derby wins for his career and nine Triple Crown race wins.

On top of that, American Pharoah will have the direction of jockey Victor Espinoza, who partnered with Baffert to take War Emblem one race shy of the Triple Crown in 2002. And simply avoiding the No. 1 post had Espinoza relieved, as Sports Illustrated's Tim Layden noted:

The history hasn't been kind to horses who run in the 18th spot, but it's also safe to say that few, if any, of those horses looked the part of American Pharoah. What he lacks in size he more than makes up for in incredible speed, and that will pay dividends on the outside of the post.

Dortmund (Martin Garcia): 13-4

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Baffert has a wealth of options in this year's Derby. While he's no stranger to suiting up multiple horses at a time for the race, he's embarking on unchartered territory this year.

Dortmund and American Pharoah—both trained by Baffert—are the top two favorites for this year's Derby, and it's awfully hard to call one the leader without giving consideration to the other. Dortmund appears to be the No. 2 option in the sportsbook, but he would be quite the runner-up.

He took the Santa Anita Derby in convincing fashion, which has often been a precursor to how the Derby will unfold. Jockey Martin Garcia has never ridden a better horse in his career, but he has been jockeying Dortmund magnificently.

More than anything, Dortmund's massive size stands out, as The Washington Post's Chuck Culpepper noted:

"

In Dortmund, people see something people often crave seeing: hugeness. His 17 hands and 1,280 pounds have people standing around Barn 33 yammering in wait for his emergence from the shedrow. When riding him, the Mexican jockey Martin Garcia said, “You can see everything down.” 

"

Like American Pharoah, Dortmund avoided disaster during the post draw and will start out in the No. 8 position. That size will come in handy if his spot in the middle of the pack sparks trouble early on, but there's no doubt that he will need a strong burst out of the gate.

Carpe Diem (John Velazquez): 9-1

Garry Jones/Associated Press

All too often, huge amounts of hype surrounding one or two horses entering the Kentucky Derby can simply be a decoy for another oft-overlooked horse to steal the show. Carpe Diem is looking to seize the moment and do just that.

To be fair, Carpe Diem isn't your average underdog pick, as his 9-1 odds would suggest. He's won four of his last five races, similar to American Pharoah. 

Trainer Todd Pletcher has a ton of experience on the saddle with John Velazquez, who has ridden in 13 Kentucky Derby races and won the 2011 edition aboard Animal Kingdom. A No. 2 post position is far from ideal, but the horse is taking it in stride, as his Twitter account noted:

"

The last Triple Crown winner. Affirmed. His post position in the @KentuckyDerby was Post Position #2. #SeizeTheDerby

— Carpe Diem (@CarpeDiem_Colt) April 29, 2015"

Navigating from the No. 2 spot into the front of the pack won't be easy for Carpe Diem, but all it takes is a strong start out of the gates to neutralize that disadvantage. If he can get near the front by the first turn, Carpe Diem will be in great shape.