Kentucky Derby Entries 2015: Horse Names, Post Positions, Vegas Odds and More

If pedigree is anything to go by, several of the 2015 Kentucky Derby contenders have been bred to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.

There are three horses in the 20-runner field who have been sired by previous Kentucky Derby winners, and there is also plenty of Triple Crown history in the breeding of some of the other runners.

With Grade 1-winning form running through the progeny lines, it can help to try to pinpoint the potential winner of the Kentucky Derby, alongside the betting analysis in the video below:

Here, we take a closer look at the pedigrees of some of the Kentucky Derby runners, along with their post positions, odds and predicted finishes:

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

Odds accurate as of 2 p.m. BST on May 1

Bred to Win?

The favourite for the Kentucky Derby is the Bob Baffert-trained American Pharoah. A hugely impressive winner of the Arkansas Derby, American Pharoah was sired by Pioneerof The Nile, who was second in the 2009 Kentucky Derby before finishing 11th in the Preakness Stakes. Pioneerof The Nile’s sire, Empire Maker, won the 2003 Belmont Stakes.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Baffert’s other runner, Dortmund, was sired by a horse who had a chance to win the Triple Crown in 2008. Big Brown won the Kentucky Derby and followed up in the Preakness Stakes before being sent off favourite for the Belmont Stakes. However, Big Brown had suffered a minor injury in the buildup to the race and was pulled up.

Neil Greenberg of The Washington Post has offered a note of caution about the chances of both American Pharoah and Dortmund:

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Since 1988, Storm Cat’s progeny are 0 for 44 in the Derby. Last year, eight runners had him in their pedigree-three of them finished in the last four spots. In 2013, six horses were descendants of Storm Cat, and four were among the last-place finishers. In 2012, eight Storm Cat runners ran and five finished in the bottom half of the field.

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The other runners in the field to have Storm Cat somewhere in their makeup are Carpe Diem, El Kabeir, Firing Line, Mr. Z and Tencendur.

Ocho Ocho Ocho may have been handed the worst draw in Post 1, but Jim Cassidy’s runner was sired by the 2007 Kentucky Derby winner Street Sense. Another horse with a connection to the 2007 Triple Crown is Keen Ice. His sire, Curlin, was third in the Kentucky Derby before winning the Preakness Stakes and then finishing second in the Belmont Stakes.

Garry Jones/Associated Press

Fusaichi Pegasus won the 2000 Kentucky Derby, meanwhile, and he is represented by International Star in the 2015 field.

The presence of Storm Cat in Carpe Diem’s breeding may be seen as a negative, but there is a lot to like about his sire, Giant’s Causeway. When trained by Aidan O’Brien, Giant’s Causeway was tough as teak, winning six Group 1 races and finishing second to Tiznow in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2000, as you can see in the video below. One of Todd Pletcher’s other runners, Itsaknockout, was sired by the 1999 Belmont Stakes winner Lemon Drop Kid.

The South African-trained runner Mubtaahij, meanwhile, has European form in his pedigree, being sired by Dubawi, who was a three-time Group 1 winner. Dubawi won the Irish 2000 Guineas in his career as a leading miler.

So if you’re looking for a horse with a winning pedigree from Triple Crown races, there are plenty to aim at, and it bodes well for their chances of running in all three legs.

With Dortmund being sired by Big Brown, the claims of the unbeaten Baffert horse continue to be hard to ignore.