Kentucky Derby 2016 Lineup: Full Race Guide for All Horses and Jockeys

One horse will begin its journey Saturday to try to complete the first back-to-back Triple Crown in nearly 40 years at the 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby.

Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed in 1978 are the only consecutive Triple Crown winners. On the heels of American Pharoah's feat in 2015, the 2016 Derby will draw plenty of interest as viewers look to find the next contender at Churchill Downs.

Date	Network	Coverage Time (ET)	Post Time (ET)
May 7, 2016	NBC	4 p.m.	6:34 p.m.

Position	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Trojan Nation	Aaron Gryder	Patrick Gallagher	66-1
2	Suddenbreakingnews	Luis Quinonez	Donnie Von Hemel	20-1
3	Creator	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steve Asmussen	12-1
4	Mo Tom	Corey Lanerie	Thomas Amoss	22-1
5	Gun Runner	Florent Geroux	Steven Asmussen	9-1
6	My Man Sam	Irad Ortiz Jr.	Chad Brown	20-1
7	Oscar Nominated	Julien Leparoux	Michael Maker	66-1
8	Lani	Yukata Take	Mikio Matsunaga	28-1
9	Destin	Javier Castellano	Todd Pletcher	14-1
10	Whitmore	Victor Espinoza	Ron Moquett	18-1
11	Exaggerator	Kent Desormeaux	J. Keith Desormeaux	15-2
12	Tom's Ready	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Dallas Stewart	40-1
13	Nyquist	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O'Neill	3-1
14	Mohaymen	Junior Alvarado	Kiaran McLaughlin	8-1
15	Outwork	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	16-1
16	Shagaf	Joel Rosario	Chad Brown	28-1
17	Mor Spirit	Gary Stevens	Bob Baffert	14-1
18	Majesto	Emisael Jaramillo	Gustavo Delgado	33-1
19	Brody's Cause	Luis Saez	Dale Romans	14-1
20	Danzing Candy	Mike Smith	Clifford Sise Jr.	20-1

Nyquist leads the field thanks to previous victories over fellow contenders Exaggerator and Mohaymen at the San Vicente Stakes and Florida Derby, respectively. The favorite is 7-0 in his career, but he faces considerable competition in a field where no horse has yet to emerge as the dominant force.

According to AL.com's Mark Inabinett, Mor Spirit has never finished worse than second place and is a great-grandson of Seattle Slew. Furthermore, Gun Runner sits in prime inside post position while entering as the Road to the Kentucky Derby points leader. He is trained by Steve Asmussen, a recent horse racing Hall of Fame inductee who is one of just two trainers (along with Todd Pletcher) with two horses in the race.

Although the betting favorite has won each of the past three Kentucky Derbies, per Mike Dempsey of Odds Shark, Gun Runner sits in a historically advantageous post position. Horses starting from the No. 5 position have won this race 13 times, the most of any gate. 

TVG Network's Andrew Champagne believes Gun Runner can take advantage of his position:

However, Asmussen has never trained a winning horse at Churchill Downs, sporting a 0-13 lifetime record, per Odds Shark.

He still believes his horse is a strong contender. He told USA Today's Dan Wolken that Gun Runner has developed nicely, which puts him in a good spot heading into Saturday.

"We feel good about where we’re at today," Asmussen said. "The two races, the timing, the spacing and having just one move for him from New Orleans to here has been seamless and allowed him to continue to develop.”

Asmussen is too revered of a trainer to never win a Kentucky Derby. With a relatively wide-open field and an ideal post position, Gun Runner should have a tremendous chance to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.

Prediction: Gun Runner wins the 2016 Kentucky Derby.