Kentucky Derby 2018: Odds, Pedigree, Jockey Info for Favorites and More Horses

Coming off last year's Triple Crown season, which featured a slew of contenders all bunched together, the 2018 Kentucky Derby has a similar feel with a trio of favorites and a lot of emerging challengers. 

Justify, who is coming off an impressive win at the Santa Anita Derby four weeks ago, arrived at Churchill Downs this week as the odds-on favorite to win the 144th Run for the Roses. The three-year-old colt has gone undefeated in three races so far this year. 

Here's the entire 20-horse field that will compete for supremacy during Saturday's Triple Crown kickoff:

1. Firenze Fire (66-1) (Jockey: Paco Lopez; Trainer: Jason Servis)

2. Free Drop Billy (33-1) (Jockey: Robby Albarado; Trainer: Dale Romans)

3. Promises Fulfilled (40-1) (Jockey: Corey Lanerie; Trainer: Dale Romans)

4. Flameaway (50-1) (Jockey: Jose Lezcano; Trainer: Mark Casse)

5. Audible (5-1) (Jockey: Javier Castellano; Trainer: Todd Pletcher)

6. Good Magic (9-1) (Jockey: Jose Ortiz; Trainer: Chad Brown)

7. Justify (13-4) (Jockey: Mike Smith; Trainer: Bob Baffert)

8. Lone Sailor (50-1) (Jockey: James Graham; Trainer: Thomas Amoss)

9. Hofburg (16-1) (Jockey: Irad Ortiz Jr.; Trainer: Bill Mott)

10. My Boy Jack (33-1) (Jockey: Kent Desormeaux; Trainer: J. Keith Desormeaux)

11. Bolt d'Oro (11-1) (Jockey: Victor Espinoza; Trainer: Mick Ruis)

12. Enticed (25-1) (Jockey: Junior Alvarado; Trainer: Kiaran McLaughlin)

13. Bravazo (33-1) (Jockey: Luis Contreras; Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas)

14. Mendelssohn (9-2) (Jockey: Ryan Moore; Trainer: Aidan O'Brien)

15. Instilled Regard (50-1) (Jockey: Drayden Van Dyke; Trainer: Jerry Hollendorfer)

16. Magnum Moon (7-1) (Jockey: Luis Saez; Trainer: Todd Pletcher)

17. Solomini (14-1) (Jockey: Flavien Prat; Trainer: Bob Baffert)

18. Vino Rosso (14-1) (Jockey: John Velazquez; Trainer: Todd Pletcher)

19. Noble Indy (25-1) (Jockey: Florent Geroux; Trainer: Todd Pletcher)

20. Combatant (100-1) Jockey: Ricardo Santana Jr.; Trainer: Steve Asmussen)

Despite being the favorite in the biggest race of the year, Justify will have to erase 136 years of history to win on Saturday. 

Per Mike Dempsey of OddsShark, the last horse to win the Kentucky Derby without racing as a two-year-old was Apollo in 1882. Justify has looked like a star in his first taste of competitive action, defeating Bolt d'Oro by three lengths at Santa Anita Park. 

The hype machine has exploded for Justify since that triumph. 

Santa Anita Park clocker Gary Young went so far as to compare Justify to the last Triple Crown winner. 

"When you do what I do for 40 years, you see horses like Justify and American Pharoah, they stick out,” Young told Pat Forde of Yahoo Sports. “Right now, I put Justify in American Pharoah's class. And more importantly, I think Mr. Baffert does, too."

One connection between Justify and American Pharoah is Bob Baffert. The legendary trainer oversaw American Pharoah's historic march three years ago and has built Justify into a superstar in just three races. 

Based on the odds, Justify's main competition will be Audible. The Florida Derby has been an accurate precursor of what will happen at Churchill Downs in recent years.

Three of the last five winners of the Florida Derby have gone on to win the Kentucky Derby, including each of the last two (Nyquist in 2016 and Always Dreaming in 2017). 

In breaking down the entire field, Neil Greenberg of the Washington Post offered a tidbit about Audible's speed that will also make him a key factor in Kentucky Derby. 

"Audible seems to get better with each distance conquered and he has the speed to be a contender here, too," Greenberg wrote. "He posted a 99 Beyer figure in both the 1 1/16-mile Holy Bull Stakes and the 1 1/8-mile Florida Derby at Gulfstream Park."

Greenberg did criticize Audible's pedigree being built more on speed than stamina, since his father, Into Mischief, has yet to sire a horse that's won stakes races of more than nine furlongs. 

Bolt d'Oro was Greenberg's pick to win because of his lineage and history of success: 

"His sire, Medaglia d’Oro, led all stallions in North America by producing seven Grade 1 winners in 2017 and his broodmare sire, A.P. Indy, the Belmont Stakes winner in 1992, has 14 winners at classic distances. Bolt d’Oro also won last year's FrontRunner Stakes as a 2-year-old; two out of the past three winners from that race, American Pharoah and Nyquist, went on to win the Kentucky Derby."

The issue with that pick is Justify handily beat Bolt d'Oro in Santa Anita, albeit in a race that is one furlong shorter (nine) than the Kentucky Derby. 

Some years there will always be a definitive favorite that lives up to all of the immense expectations, like American Pharoah in 2015. 

Some years there won't be enough to separate the contenders that all three Triple Crown races have a different winner, as was the case last year. 

This year, right now, feels like it will be much closer to 2017. Justify doesn't have the longest resume in the field, but his record in the races he's run is perfect. 

Audible, though, is riding a wave of momentum with four straight wins dating back to last November. Trainer Todd Pletcher won the Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes last year. 

This stage isn't going to be too big for Audible, who is going to come away with the biggest win of his young career on Saturday. 

Odds via OddsShark.com