Kentucky Derby Entries 2018: Horses in the Field Best Suited for Churchill Downs

The Kentucky Derby will return for the 144th time on Saturday as another 20 talented horses bid to win one of the most prestigious races in the sport.

The 2018 Run for the Roses will, as usual, be contested over 10 furlongs (one-and-a-quarter miles) on the dirt track of Churchill Downs.

Some of this year's entries will be better suited to the race than others. Here are some who are likely to fare better under the twin spires:

Mendelssohn

Mendelssohn has made seven starts and boasts a 4-1-0 record from them.

Only one of his races has come on dirt, but the ease with which he handled the new surface was highly impressive.

At The Races offered a glimpse of his incredible display in the UAE Derby as he stormed to victory by 18-and-a-half lengths:

Mendelssohn has won three consecutive races heading into the Derby, with his spectacular run in Meydan providing an excellent warm-up.

Horse-racing writer James Willoughby believes he's a natural on dirt:

There's plenty that can go wrong out of the gate, but his suitability to the surface should serve him well on Saturday.

Justify

The Bob Baffert-trained colt Justify comes into the Derby as the favourite having won all three of his career races.

Among his victories is the Santa Anita Derby. XBTV shared the video:

Winners of that race have typically fared well at Churchill Downs in recent years—California Chrome went on to win in Kentucky in 2014, while Dortmund and Exaggerator respectively finished third and second in the two years that followed.

The remarkable pace Justify has displayed also bodes well, as noted by Mike Curry of America's Best Racing, who wrote the three-year-old "has a ton of speed that is incredibly useful when facing 19 other horses all vying for precious real estate in the Kentucky Derby."

Indeed, according to horse-racing expert Jon White (h/t John Cherwa of the Los Angeles Times), only three of the past 55 Derby winners have been behind the front two heading into the final furlong. 

Justify has the ability to set the pace from the outset ahead of the field and has an excellent chance of being one of those two.