Kentucky Derby 2017 Odds: Top Picks, Updated Vegas Lines for 143rd Race

Triple Crown season is finally upon us, which means it's time to ramp up preparations for the 143rd Kentucky Derby. 

And after Wednesday's post officially slotted this year's 20-horse field into its starting gates in advance of Saturday's Run For The Roses, some clarity has started to emerge regarding which competitors are in best position to take home a title in the shadow of Churchill Downs' twin spires. 

With just two days remaining until the proceedings get underway, here's a look at updated odds, courtesy of OddsShark, and a preview of 2017's top Kentucky Derby contenders. 

Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Lookin At Lee	Corey Lanerie	Steve Asmussen	+2800
2	Thunder Snow	Christophe Soumillon	Saeed bin Suroor	+1600
3	Fast and Accurate	Channing Hill	Mike Maker	+6600
4	Untrapped	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steve Asmussen	+5000
5	Always Dreaming	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	+400
6	State of Honor	Jose Lezcano	Mark Casse	+4000
7	Girvin	Mike Smith	Joe Sharp	+1600
8	Hence	Florent Geroux	Steve Asmussen	+2200
9	Irap	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O’Neill	+2500
10	Gunnevera	Javier Castellano	Antonio Sano	+1200
11	Battle of Midway	Flavien Prat	Jerry Hollendorfer	+2800
12	Sonneteer	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux	+3300
13	J Boys Echo	Luis Saez	Dale Romans	+3300
14	Classic Empire	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	+425
15	McCraken	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Ian Wilkes	+650
16	Tapwrit	Jose Ortiz	Todd Pletcher	+2500
17	Irish War Cry	Rajiv Maragh	Graham Motion	+650
18	Gormley	Victor Espinoza	John Shirreffs	+1600
19	Practical Joke	Joel Rosario	Chad Brown	+1600
20	Patch	Tyler Gaffalione	Todd Pletcher	+3300

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The Todd Pletcher-trained Always Dreaming and Mark Casse-trained Classic Empire top the bill this year, and it's not hard to see why. 

Although Always Dreaming's resume isn't particularly lengthy, the three-year-old colt enters the Kentucky Derby with back-to-back wins in his last two starts—including a win at April's Florida Derby. All told, Always Dreaming has never finished worse than third in his four career starts. 

Then there's Classic Empire, who turned heads at April's Arkansas Derby when he burst past the field down the back stretch to take home a victory: 

To date, Classic Empire has five wins in seven starts—one of which came in the 2016 Breeders' Cup Juvenile. 

However, Classic Empire may have to buck some historic trends in order for Casse to leave Churchill Downs happy.

According to OddsShark, the 14th post has produced just two Kentucky Derby winners since 1900. Conversely, the fifth post—which is home to Always Dreaming—has a Derby-best 13 champs in that span. 

Casse, though, doesn't appear fazed by the odds.  

"We couldn't be in a better place right now," he said Wednesday, according to the Associated Press' Beth Harris. 

Beyond those two early favorites, a pair of +650 contenders in Irish War Cry and McCraken shouldn't be overlooked when evaluating potential winners. 

Irish War Cry, in particular, deserves attention considering the three-year-old is headed into the Kentucky Derby with four wins in five starts. The most notable of those was last month's winning jaunt at the Wood Memorial, which saw the H. Graham Motion-trained colt best Battalion Runner and Cloud Computing to clinch a spot at Churchill Downs. 

That said, Irish War Cry would be the first horse since 1900 to win the race starting from the 17th post, per OddsShark. 

McCraken is in a slightly better spot since the 15th starting gate has produced five champions since 1900, but Ian Wilkes' horse will have to shake off a third-place finish at April's Blue Grass Stakes in order to break through on horse racing's biggest stage.