Winners and Losers at the 2019 Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw

Who drew well and who drew poorly when post positions for the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1) were assigned Tuesday morning?

Three of the 20 horses received highly favorable post positions, while three others were compromised by their assignments.

Who were these “winners” and “losers” at the post draw?

Winners

#3 By My Standards

He showed in the Louisiana Derby (G2) he doesn’t mind racing inside of horses, and with wet weather in the forecast for Derby Day, there’s a good chance the rail will be the best part of the track. From post 3 By My Standards should have every opportunity to save ground and rally up the favorable inside path.

#7 Maximum Security

By drawing outside the other potential frontrunners, Maximum Security should have plenty of options for working out a clean trip. If War of Will (see below) guns for the lead, Maximum Security can settle back into chase mode, as he did without issue three starts back. Otherwise he can take command and set the pace, like he did in the Florida Derby (G1).

#12 Omaha Beach

Arguably no horse drew a better post than the 4-1 morning-line favorite. With primarily deep closers and mid-pack runners drawn to his outside, jockey Mike Smith should have little difficulty settling Omaha Beach into an outside stalking position, a couple of lengths or so behind the leaders. That trip has been the key to victory in recent editions of the Kentucky Derby.

Losers

#1 War of Will

Drawing the rail is a tough break for the speedy War of Will, who will have no choice but to fly out of the gate and sprint hard for the lead to avoid getting buried (or smashed) behind horses in the wild run to the first turn. That’s far from ideal for a horse whose best races have come when stalking the pace outside of horses.

#5 Improbable

The Arkansas Derby (G1) runner-up can be a bit sluggish early in his races, so an outside post for the Derby would have given him more time to settle into stride and secure a good position. Unfortunately he’s landed in post 5, with fast horses to his inside and outside, increasing the chance that he’ll get buried in traffic early on.

#19 Spinoff

In a perfect world Spinoff would secure a pace-tracking trip in the Derby, but drawing post 19 will make that difficult. Because he probably lacks enough speed to challenge for the lead, Spinoff is left with few options except to race very wide into the first turn or drop farther off the pace than usual. Neither choice is particularly appealing.

Which horses do you believe drew favorable or unfavorable post positions in the Kentucky Derby?