Kentucky Derby 2017 Jockeys and Horses' Top Odds for 143rd Race Field

The 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday at Churchill Downs, and if you haven't yet made your bets or just want to know which horse is favored, it's time to narrow down the field.

While the excitement of the Derby stems from the fact that anything can happen, there are plenty of indicators of which horse will win, including everything from its post position to whether it won its last prep.

The post time for the Run for the Roses is 6:34 p.m. ET on Saturday, but coverage will begin at 2:30 p.m. ET that afternoon on NBC. You can also live stream the action on NBC Sports Live. 

Here's all the information you need to know about the trainers and jockeys for this year's field of 20 horses:

Post Position	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	Lookin At Lee	Corey Lanerie	Steve Asmussen	33-1
2	Thunder Snow	Christophe Soumillon	Saeed bin Suroor	18-1
3	Fast and Accurate	Channing Hill	Mike Maker	66-1
4	Untrapped	Ricardo Santana Jr.	Steve Asmussen	50-1
5	Always Dreaming	John Velazquez	Todd Pletcher	9-2
6	State of Honor	Jose Lezcano	Mark Casse	33-1
7	Girvin	Mike Smith	Joe Sharp	16-1
8	Hence	Florent Geroux	Steve Asmussen	16-1
9	Irap	Mario Gutierrez	Doug O’Neill	18-1
10	Gunnevera	Javier Castellano	Antonio Sano	12-1
11	Battle of Midway	Flavien Prat	Jerry Hollendorfer	20-1
12	Sonneteer	Kent Desormeaux	Keith Desormeaux	40-1
13	J Boys Echo	Luis Saez	Dale Romans	28-1
14	Classic Empire	Julien Leparoux	Mark Casse	19-4
15	McCraken	Brian Hernandez Jr.	Ian Wilkes	6-1
16	Tapwrit	Jose Ortiz	Todd Pletcher	28-1
17	Irish War Cry	Rajiv Maragh	Graham Motion	6-1
18	Gormley	Victor Espinoza	John Shirreffs	18-1
19	Practical Joke	Joel Rosario	Chad Brown	25-1
20	Patch	Tyler Gaffalione	Todd Pletcher	33-1

These 20 horses will all be competing not only for the iconic rose garland, but some pretty significant prize money, too; the purse is $2 million, with $1.24 million going to the winner, according to SportingNews.com. 

These updated odds reflect a slight change as we head into the weekend, with a narrowing of favorites at the top.

On Thursday, Classic Empire led all the entrants at 4-1; as of Friday morning, he was still the favorite at 19-4.

Classic Empire had won four races in a row before finishing in third place at the Holy Bull Stakes on February 4, 2017, behind fellow Kentucky Derby hopefuls Irish War Cry and Gunnevera, as a result of a foot abscess, according to the Kentucky Derby's official website. 

However, Classic Empire surged back in the Arkansas Derby on April 15, winning that race and earning his spot in the field of 20 for the Kentucky Derby. 

The 1 1/8 mile Arkansas Derby, on dirt, is as similar a track to Churchill Downs as Classic Empire has run, but the 1 1/4-mile Churchill Downs track could be a challenge for the speedy colt, who will have to maintain his speed for his longest distance yet. 

Classic Empire breaks from the 14 post. 

Nipping at Classic Empire's heels is another big name this year, Always Dreaming. The colt, trained by Todd Pletcher, was listed with odds of 9-2 as of Friday. 

Always Dreaming won his last three races heading into the Kentucky Derby, including the Maiden Special Weight, the Allowance Optional Claiming and, most importantly, the Florida Derby. 

The latter race is an excellent indicator of which horse will win at Churchill Downs; per OddsShark's Mike Dempsey, "over the past 15 years the Florida Derby has been the most productive with four Derby winners, followed by the Santa Anita Derby and Arkansas Derby with three each."

Always Dreaming earned the No. 5 post position, which has produced 13 winners since 1900, per OddsShark, the most in that period.