Kentucky Derby 2015: Projected Prize Money Earnings, Order of Finish and More

The Kentucky Derby may not be one of the most lucrative events on the horse racing calendar, but the prestige accrued from triumphing in the blue-riband chase at Churchill Downs is unmatched.

Whoever wins this iconic 10-furlong charge takes home a $1.24 million share of the $2 million prize pot, but perhaps more importantly, the first leg of a potentially historic Triple Crown triumph.

Joe Kristufek of Churchill Downs and America's Best Racing spoke with Bleacher Report about some of the odds ahead of the 141st Run for the Roses:

There are 20 horses in this year’s field, each supported by quality jockeys and diligent trainers. With the race just hours away, here’s a rundown of the expected order of finish and what those lucky enough to finish in the top spots can expect in terms of a payout.

No.	Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	2	Ocho Ocho Ocho	Elvis Trujillo	Jim Cassidy	25-1
2	3	Carpe Diem	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	8-1
3	4	Materiality	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	16-1
4	5	Tencendur	Manny Franco	George Weaver	50-1
5	6	Danzig Moon	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	33-1
6	7	Mubtaahij	Christophe Soumillon	Mike de Kock	12-1
7		El Kabeir	Calvin Borel		SCR
8	8	Dortmund	Martin Garcia	Bob Baffert	18-5
9	9	Bolo	Rafael Bejarano	Carla Gaines	40-1
10	10	Firing Line	Gary Stevens	Simon Callaghan	12-1
11		Stanford	Florent Geroux		SCR
12		International Star	Miguel Mena		SCR
13	11	Itsaknockout	Luis Saez	Todd Pletcher	33-1
14	12	Keen Ice	Kent Desormeaux	Dale Romans	40-1
15	13	Frosted	Joel Rosario	Kiaran McLaughlin	16-1
16	14	War Story	Joe Talamo	Tom Amoss	50-1
17	15	Mr. Z	Ramon Vazquez	D. Wayne Lukas	50-1
18	16	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	13-5
19	17	Upstart	Jose Ortiz	Rick Violette Jr.	25-1
20	18	Far Right	Mike Smith	Ron Moquett	40-1
21	19	Frammento	Corey Nakatani	Nick Zito	66-1

Position	Payout
1.	$1,240,000
2.	$400,000
3.	$200,000
4.	$100,000
5.	$60,000

For full listings, check out the Odds Shark website. Odds accurate as of 5 p.m. (BST), May 1.

Payout figures courtesy of The Triple Crown website.

Churchill Downs Prepares for Derby Drama

Rob Carr/Getty Images

All the talk coming into this race is surrounding the Bob Baffert-trained pairing of Dortmund and American Pharoah, who are second and first in the betting, respectively, on the cusp of the horses taking to their posts.

Each has a rightful claim to be considered the favourite here too. Taking Dortmund first, he is a physically imposing colt and has been extremely dominant in all six of his races so far. As we can see here, horse racing journalist Scott Utterback really fancies him to preserve his unbeaten run before the twin spires this weekend:

However, the Derby will be a major step up in quality for Dortmund, especially with Baffert’s other main hope American Pharoah here and in-form. He was simply superb in winning the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park earlier this month, and his post position of 18 means jockey Victor Espinoza should be able to give him a clean run.

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American Pharoah has been attracting a lot of interest at Churchill Downs this week as you might expect, with Breaking Bad’s Dean Norris paying him a visit:

But if it’s value you’re after when placing your bets, at short odds, neither of the aforementioned duo are likely to make you rich overnight.

Aside from the favourites, Materiality is a horse that looks ready to mount a serious charge. Trained by Todd Pletcher—who has an admittedly dreadful record in the feature race at Churchill Downs—he’s a freakishly fast colt who should be capable of dealing with an unfortunate post draw of No. 3.

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As noted by Jay Privman of Daily Racing Form, Pletcher’s pairing of Materiality and the well-fancied Carpe Diem have been somewhat overlooked given the class of the favourites:

Firing Line is another intriguing option for those willing to take a punt on an outsider. He’ll have three-time Derby winner Gary Stephens aboard, has what is historically the most favourable post position in the 10th pen and has come close to beating Dortmund on a couple of occasions this season.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

But as touched on by horse racing expert Matt Dinerman, he does have a penchant for fading in the latter stages:

That will see Materiality just hold him off for third place here. However, as enjoyable as it is to see a shock in a showpiece event, this one will come down to a battle between the two favourites.

Expect American Pharoah to get the edge. Granted, Dortmund has superb pedigree and is a majestically powerful horse, but the greater tactical speed of the favourite—not to mention the experienced head of Espinoza on board—will see American Pharoah wearing the roses come Saturday evening.

Prediction: 1. American Pharoah, 2. Dortmund, 3. Materiality