Kentucky Derby 2016: Latest Purse Payout, Vegas Betting Odds and Field Lineup

The Kentucky Derby stands a little bigger and taller this year among America's premier sporting events. 

When the 20 horses in the field go to the post late Saturday afternoon at Churchill Downs, the sporting world will be paying attention. Perhaps even more attention than in previous years, because of American Pharoah's Triple Crown achievement in 2015.

The sport had gone 37 years between Triple Crown winners, and many within the sport thought that one horse winning the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and the Belmont Stakes in the same season was no longer possible.

Respected voices within the industry thought that asking a horse to win the Preakness two weeks after the Derby and then winning the Belmont Stakes three weeks after that had become too much to ask. That's because certain horses would run in just the Baltimore race or save themselves for the 1 1/2-mile race at New York's famed Belmont Park track.

But American Pharoah put all that talk to bed, and now that another Triple Crown season is upon us, another powerful horse is going to try to match the achievement.

Nyquist is a 3-1 favorite according to Odds Shark, and he has won all seven of his previous races. He has a difficult task in front of him as trainer Doug O'Neill makes his final preparations for the Kentucky Derby, but there is little doubt that Nyquist looks like a potential champion.

Post	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Odds
1	Trojan Nation	Patrick Gallagher	Aaron T. Gryder	66-1
2	Suddenbreakingnews	Donnie Von Hemel	Luis S. Quinonez	20-1
3	Creator	Steven Asmussen	Ricardo Santana Jr.	12-1
4	Mo Tom	Thomas Amoss	Corey J. Lanerie	22-1
5	Gun Runner	Steven Asmussen	Florent Geroux	9-1
6	My Man Sam	Chad Brown	Irad Ortiz Jr.	20-1
7	Oscar Nominated	Michael J. Maker	Julien R. Leparoux	66-1
8	Lani	Mikio Matsunaga	Yutaka Take	28-1
9	Destin	Todd Pletcher	Javier Castellano	14-1
10	Whitmore	Ron Moquett	Victor Espinoza	18-1
11	Exaggerator	J. Keith Desormeaux	Kent J. Desormeaux	15-2
12	Tom's Ready	Dallas Stewart	Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr.	40-1
13	Nyquist	Doug O'Neill	Mario Gutierrez	3-1
14	Mohaymen	Kiaran McLaughlin	Junior Alvarado	8-1
15	Outwork	Todd Pletcher	John R. Velazquez	16-1
16	Shagaf	Chad Brown	Joel Rosario	28-1
17	Mor Spirit	Bob Baffert	Gary L. Stevens	14-1
18	Majesto	Gustavo Delgado	Emisael Jaramillo	33-1
19	Brody's Cause	Dale Romans	Luis Saez	14-1
20	Danzing Candy	Clifford Sise Jr.	Mike E. Smith	20-1

One of the biggest factors working in his favor is his running style. In a 20-horse field, it's easy for come-from-behind horses to get caught up in the traffic. Nyquist likes to stay close to the pace before turning it on near the top of the stretch. If he is close to the lead and has to overcome two or three horses, that's less troublesome than having to overcome 10, 12 or more tired horses.

Nyquist, out of Seeking Gabrielle by Uncle Mo, has a championship pedigree, but there are questions about his ability to run the 1 1/4-mile Kentucky Derby distance. Uncle Mo ran his worst race at that distance in the 2010 Breeders Cup Classic, according to Jonathan Lintner of the Louisville Courier-Journal.

That's one of the reasons that horses like Exaggerator (15-2), Mohaymen (8-1) and Gun Runner (9-1) have a chance to get to the winner's circle.

It may be a bit harder for Mohaymen to challenge Nyquist, considering he was beaten significantly by him in the Florida Derby where he finished fourth, but trainer Kiaran McLaughlin looks at that race as one-off and prefers to look at his other five races, which were all victories.

Nyquist and the other 19 competitors in the field are chasing a minimum of $2 million in payouts. Here's how the money will be distributed, according to triplecrown.com.

Kentucky Derby Prize Money

1st Place: $1.24 million

2nd Place: $400,000

3rd Place: $200,000

4th Place: $100,000

5th Place: $60,000

While the payouts are not the most newsworthy part of the first Triple Crown event of the season, it certainly matters to the owners, trainers and jockeys who are preparing for the Run for the Roses.

The Kentucky Derby has belonged to the favorites in each of the last three years. However, prior to the current run, long shots have come through.

If that's going to be the case again this year, horse racing fans may want to take a look at Majesto (33-1), My Man Sam (20-1) and Suddenbreakingnews (20-1).

Majesto is an improving colt who finished second to Nyquist in the Florida Derby and is a noteworthy stretch runner, according to J. Keeler Johnson of the Bloodhorse.

My Man Sam has a dangerous running style for the Derby. He is willing to run from way behind because he does his best running in the deep stretch. That means if he is going to get the upset, he is not likely to get to the top until the final jump or two.

Suddenbreakingnews is also a stretch runner, but he could be hurt by starting from the No. 2 hole. He could get shuffled back early, and that's an issue in the huge field.