Who is Running in the 2019 Kentucky Derby?

Omaha Beach was shaping up to be the favorite for the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1), even beforethe Tuesday morning post position draw at Churchill Downs, but when the talented colt drew favorably in post position #12, his status as favorite was most assuredly cemented.

Omaha Beach was the penultimate horse to be assigned a post position, and there was a 50-50 chance he could have landed in post #3, a much less desirable draw. But as luck would have it, the versatile colt drew post #12, a perfect position outside of the other main speed horses.

Thanks to his ideal post and his impressive victories in the Arkansas Derby (G1) and Rebel Stakes (G2), Omaha Beach was made the 4-1 morning-line favorite in a deep and competitive field. Game Winner, the champion 2-year-old male of 2018, landed a similarly favorable draw in post #16 and is listed as the 5-1 second choice on the morning line. His stablemates, #5 Improbable and #17 Roadster (both grade 1 winners), are the co-third choices at 6-1. All together they comprise a powerful trio of Derby contenders conditioned by the five-time Kentucky Derby-winning trainer Bob Baffert.

In a year where injuries and setbacks involving major Derby contenders were few and far between, a record-breaking 40 Kentucky Derby qualification points were required to make the 20-horse cut. #21 Bodexpress, also with 40 points, lost a tiebreaker for the final spot and is the lone also-eligible entrant. In the event that there is a scratch from the main body of the field before 9 a.m. ET Friday morning, Bodexpress will start from the far outside post position.

Most of the horses received workable post positions for their running styles, but there were a few exceptions. The speedy #1 War of Will drew the dreaded rail post and will surely have to gun for the lead in order to avoid getting boxed in during the run to the first turn. On the opposite end of the spectrum, #19 Spinoff—who will ideally be tracking the pace—could find himself hung wide on both turns while breaking from post 19. Even Improbable could have to work hard early on while breaking from post 5. Despite his abundant talent, he can be sluggish during the opening furlongs of his races and risks getting buried in traffic if he doesn’t break cleanly and quickly from the gate.

The complete field for the 2019 Kentucky Derby, with jockey assignments and morning line odds:

PP	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds
1	War of Will	Tyler Gaffalione	Mark Casse	20-1
2	Tax	Junior Alvarado	Danny Gargan	20-1
3	By My Standards	Gabrial Saez	Bret Calhoun	20-1
4	Gray Magician	Drayden Van Dyke	Peter Mille	50-1
5	Improbable	Irad Ortiz, Jr.	Bob Baffert	6-1
6	Vekoma	Javier Castellano	George Weaver	20-1
7	Maximum Security	Luis Saez	Jason Servis	10-1
8	Tacitus	Jose Ortiz	Bill Mott	10-1
9	Plus Que Parfait	Ricardo Santana, Jr.	Brendan Walsh	30-1
10	Cutting Humor	Corey Lanerie	Todd Pletcher	30-1
11	Haikal	Rajiv Maragh	Kiaran McLaughlin	30-1
12	Omaha Beach	Mike Smith	Richard Mandella	4-1
13	Code of Honor	John Velazquez	Shug McGaughey	15-1
14	Win Win Win	Julian Pimentel	Michael Trombetta	15-1
15	Master Fencer	Julien Leparoux	Koichi Tsunoda	50-1
16	Game Winner	Joel Rosario	Bob Baffert	5-1
17	Roadster	Florent Geroux	Bob Baffert	6-1
18	Long Range Toddy	Jon Court	Steve Asmussen	30-1
19	Spinoff	Manny Franco	Todd Pletcher	30-1
20	Country House	Flavien Prat	Bill Mott	30-1
AE 21	Bodexpress	Chris Landeros	Gustavo Delgado	30-1

The Kentucky Derby is the 12th race of the afternoon Saturday, with an approximate post time of 6:50 p.m. ET. Want to tune in and catch all the action? Check out our guide to the TV broadcast schedule!