Kentucky Derby Entries 2018: Post Positions, Updated Odds for All Horses

The leading horses for the 2018 Kentucky Derby all managed to avoid a poor post position when the draw was made at Churchill Downs on Tuesday.

Justify, the favourite, will come out of gate seven, Aidan O'Brien's Mendelssohn was drawn in No. 14 and Audible got gate five, from which Always Dreaming won the Run for the Roses in 2017.

Solomini will break from the dreaded gate 17, which has never produced a winner at the Kentucky Derby.

Here are the post positions in full:

As has been the case for most of the lead-up to Saturday's race, Justify remains ahead of the pack in the betting, per OddsShark:

Justify +325

Mendelssohn +450

Audible +500

Magnum Moon +700

Good Magic +900

Bolt d’Oro +1100

Vino Rosso +1400

Solomini +1400

Hofburg +1600

Enticed +2500

Noble Indy +2500

My Boy Jack +3300

Free Drop Billy +3300

Bravazo +3300

Promises Fulfilled +4000

Flameaway +5000

Lone Sailor +5000

Instilled Regard +5000

Firenze Fire +6600

Combatant +10000

Much of the buzz ahead of the 2018 Kentucky Derby has been around whether Justify can break the long-standing Apollo Curse, which goes all the way back to 1882.

It was only the eighth running of the prestigious race when Apollo rode to victory, and it is unlikely many predicted that, in 2018, he would still be the only Kentucky Derby winner to have not raced as a two-year-old.

That remains the case, though.

However, the undefeated Justify, whose three career starts have all come as a three year-old, is likely to line up as favourite on Saturday and could finally break the century-old curse.

A bad draw could have scuppered the Bob Baffert-trained colt's chance, but gate seven should cause no major problems. It is not too close to the rail or too wide on the outside.

Per the New York Times' Melissa Hoppert, Baffert's response to the post draw was: "I'll take that."

Mendelssohn is also trying to break a long-lasting duck, per the Guardian's Bryan Armen Graham:

He was spectacular in winning the UAE Derby in March by 18-and-a-half lengths in his first run on dirt, and he gives trainer O'Brien a great chance of winning a first Kentucky Derby—he is currently zero for five in the race.

Solomini, another Baffert horse, is a genuinely decent bet outside of the obvious favourites.

In six starts, he has never finished outside the top three, most recently coming third to Magnum Moon at the Arkansas Derby.

Many punters are likely to avoid Solomini because of the stigma attached to gate 17, but it should, in theory, make little difference to how he runs the 10 furlongs on Saturday.