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Kentucky Derby 2022 Odds: Latest Betting Lines and Predictions
May 2, 2022
The Kentucky Derby will be the epicenter of horse racing on Saturday.
And a horse of the same name is expected to leave the gates at Churchill Downs as the favorite to win the first leg of the Triple Crown.
Epicenter has four victories and a second-place finish in his last five starts. His most recent win came at the Louisiana Derby.
The colt will try to bring home the victory for trainer Steve Asmussen, who has won every major race in his career except the Run for the Roses.
A handful of other entrants will be mentioned as potential winners, but Epicenter will be the primary focus of the pre-race buildup.
The Kentucky Derby odds can be found on the race's official website when they become available.
Predictions
Epicenter Plays Major Role In Hunt For The Win
Epicenter will be the horse everyone talks about in the buildup to the Derby.
The likely pre-race favorite reeled off four wins in his last five starts. His only slip-up during that stretch was a second-place finish at the Lecomte Stakes in January.
Epicenter beat out a few potential Derby horses on his way to winning the Louisiana Derby, including second-place finisher Zozos.
Each of Epicenter's four wins came at a longer distance than the previous triumph. His first win of the run came at a one-mile race. The Louisiana Derby was 1 3/16 miles.
The horse's strength over stretched-out courses is a good sign for trainer Steve Asmussen and his crew as they prepare Epicenter for the Derby.
Epicenter still needs to run a strong race on Saturday to land first place, but his recent form suggests that he will be at, or near, the front of the pack for most of the event.
A victory for Epicenter would hand Asmussen his first trip to the winner's circle at the Kentucky Derby. He has two Breeders' Cup Classic wins, two Preakness Stakes triumphs and a Belmont Stakes victory on his resume as a trainer.
Zandon Poses Biggest Threat To Epicenter
Zandon is one of the horses that will be mentioned in the same breath as Epicenter in the pre-race conversations. He catapulted up the Kentucky Derby points standings with a win at the Blue Grass Stakes.
The horse trained by Chad Brown landed in the top three in each of his three starts over the last six months, so he is used to running at the front of the field.
Epicenter has run more races than Zandon and at multiple lengths. Zandon's three events were all at 1 1/8 miles. He has to make the jump up to 1 1/4 miles for Saturday.
The length should not be a major concern for Zandon since he consistently ran at the race length one level down from the Derby length, but it is worth noting if he runs out of gas at the end.
Like Epicenter, Zandon is trying to bring home the first Derby win for his trainer. Brown has one Preakness win from 2017 with Cloud Computing but no other Triple Crown victories to his name.