Kentucky Derby Entries 2019: Post Positions, Updated Odds for Every Horse

Celebrities, athletes and mint juleps will take center stage Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, as horse racing takes center stage on the sporting calendar with the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The sport of kings no longer dominates the sporting world as it did more than 60 years ago when it shared the prime spots on the stage with boxing and baseball. But when the 20 horses fill the starting gate at 6:46 p.m. ET, attention will be paid to the 1¼-mile race.

A year ago, Justify became the second horse in the last four years to win the Triple Crown. He started off with an impressive victory in the Kentucky Derby before he followed up with triumphs in the Preakness and Belmont Stakes.

Whether any horse can equal Justify's feat will be determined, but favored Omaha Beach may have the best chance of winning.

In this piece, we look at the post positions and updated odds of the horses in the field.

Post positions were assigned Tuesday, and here's a look at those posts, as well as the odds for the race.

PP, Horse, Trainer, Jockey, Odds

1. War of Will, Mark Casse, Tyler Gaffalione, 20-1

2. Tax, Danny Gargan, Junior Alvarado, 20-1

3. By My Standards, Bret Calhoun, Gabriel Saez, 20-1

4. Gray Magician, Peter Miller, Drayden Van Dyke, 50-1

5. Improbable, Bob Baffert, Irad Ortiz Jr., 6-1

6. Vekoma, George Weaver, Javier Castellano, 20-1

7. Maximum Security, Jason Servis, Luis Saez, 10-1

8. Tacitus, Bill Mott, Jose Ortiz, 10-1

9. Plus Que Parfait, Brendan Walsh, Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1

10. Cutting Humor, Todd Pletcher, Corey Lanerie, 30-1

11. Haikal, Kiaran McLaughlin, Rajiv Maragh, 30-1

12. Omaha Beach, Richard Mandella, Mike Smith, 4-1

13. Code of Honor, Shug McGaughey, John Velazquez, 15-1

14. Win Win Win, Michael Trombetta, Julian Pimentel, 15-1

15. Master Fencer, Japanese qualifier, Koichi Tsunoda, Julien Leparoux, 50-1

16. Game Winner, Bob Baffert, Joel Rosario, 5-1

17. Roadster, Bob Baffert, Florent Geroux, 6-1

18. Long Range Toddy, Steve Asmussen, Jon Court, 30-1

19. Spinoff, Todd Pletcher, Manny Franco, 30-1

20. Country House, Bill Mott, Flavien Prat, 30-1

Odds courtesy of Covers.com

Omaha Beach is the early favorite with odds of 4-1. Richard Mandella is his trainer and Mike Smith is his rider.

Mandella is hoping to saddle his first Kentucky Derby winner, and Omaha Beach comes into the race having won the Arkansas Derby as well as the Rebel Stakes.

The Arkansas Derby was run in the rain, as was last year's Kentucky Derby, and the long-range weather forecast for Louisville indicates that rain is a possibility. Omaha Beach clearly can run well in the rain, and that may make him an even greater favorite on race day.

Mandella was pleased with what he saw from Omaha Beach at the Arkansas Derby.

"He looked like he was well within himself and Mike just let him enjoy his job, just stride out and go where he went," Mandella said, per James Scully of Brisnet.com. "My first thought was, 'Jeez, don't move too quick' and then I thought, 'Don't be second-guessing Mike Smith'—one of the greatest of all times. Just appreciate having him and can't tell you how much I appreciate this horse and his owner (Rick Porter). We'd already ran in the slop at home, so that wasn't much of a concern."

Bob Baffert trained Justify to the Triple Crown last year, and the five-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer has three contenders in this year's race. Those horses include Improbable, Game Winner and Roadster.

All three should have an opportunity to make their mark in this race, but in a crowded race like the Derby, one of the keys is getting off to a good start and avoid getting caught up in traffic.

In addition to Omaha Beach and the three Baffert horses, trainer Shug McGaughey has a potential contender in Code of Honor.

That horse will be ridden by John Velazquez and will start from the No. 13 hole, and he has flashed his talent to this point but has lacked consistency.

After breaking his maiden last year and finishing an impressive second in the Champagne Stakes at Belmont as a two-year-old, Code of Honor ran a dull fourth in the Mucho Macho Man Stakes at Gulfstream Park in January.

He bounced back with an impressive victory in the Fountain of Youth Stakes at Gulfstream in early March, but he was unable to follow up on that in the Florida Derby. He was a well-beaten third in that race at the end of March.

Win Win Win may be another horse to consider in the Kentucky Derby. The dark bay colt comes into the Derby with earnings of $367,300, and recent finishes of third in the Tampa Bay Derby at Tampa Downs and second in the Bluegrass Stakes at Keeneland.

Trainer Michael Trombetta, who once had a strong Kentucky Derby contender when he brought Sweetnorthernsaint to the post in 2006 after overpowering the field in the Illinois Derby, is taking a wait-and-see approach with Win Win Win.

He admits that his horse, like the others in the field, has quite a bit of stress to contend with, per Christine Oser of Blood-Horse. "To have everybody with huge expectations in a race such as this, right off the get-go, adds a lot more stress to already a stressful situation."

Win Win Win will come out of the No. 14 hole, and both he and Code of Honor have odds of 15-1 four days before the race.