The Kentucky Derby is just over two weeks away and two horses have emerged as co-favorites; Roadster and Omaha Beach. Those two horses are listed at +400, while Game Winner and Improbable are the co-third choices at +500. This could be one of the most wide open Kentucky Derby’s in history, as eight horses are currently listed at single-digit odds. It could be that the favorite in the Derby goes off at odds of 5-1 or maybe even 6-1. Let’s look at the latest Kentucky Derby odds and the top contenders.
2019 Kentucky Derby Odds
Omaha Beach +400
Roadster +400
Game Winner +500
Improbable +500
Maximum Security +600
Instagrand +700
Haikal +900
Tacitus +900
Long Range Toddy +1200
Vekoma +1200
Code Of Honor +1600
Spinoff +2000
War Of Will +2000
By My Standards +3000
Cutting Humor +3000
Plus Que Parfait +3000
Anothertwistafate +3500
Owendale +3500
Win Win Win +3500
Country House +4000
Gray Magician +4000
Master Fencer +4000
Tax +4000
Bourbon War +6000
Signalman +6000
Sueno +6000
Top Contenders
The 2019 Kentucky Derby Media Poll this week had Omaha Beach listed as the top choice, while Roadster was the second choice. The rest of the top five were Game Winner, Tacitus and Improbable. “Omaha Beach has beaten Game Winner and Improbable, two of the three stars in Bob Baffert’s barn,” said John Clay, columnist at the Lexington Herald-Leader. “There’s every reason to think he can beat the third Baffert star, Roadster, as well.”
It should be noted that since 2013 when Churchill Downs started the points qualifying system, the favorite in the Kentucky Derby has won every time. The question is whether it will be Roadster or Omaha Beach who goes off as the favorite.
Oddsmaker Mike Battaglia who will set the morning line for the Kentucky Derby has said that the jockey will decide whether it is Roadster or Omaha Beach who is favored. “Who’s Mike Smith going to ride?” Battaglia said in the media recently. Battaglia has set the morning line for the Kentucky Derby every year since 1975. He said that Roadster will be the morning line favorite if Smith is in the irons. If Smith decides to ride Omaha Beach then that horse will probably be the morning line favorite. Smith has ridden two Kentucky Derby winners in the past, including Justify who won the Triple Crown for trainer Bob Baffert last year.
“I think he’ll probably stay with Roadster,” Battaglia said. “But if he doesn’t ride Roadster, that says a lot. … The way Roadster finished up in the Santa Anita Derby, I think if Mike stays on him he’ll probably be the favorite.”
Battaglia did say that training will be important for all of the horses. “It really depends on how these horses train, I think,” Battaglia said. “They’re all so close that the training is going to mean a lot. You always have to look at it, but I think it’s going to mean a lot more this year, for making the line at least.”
Battaglia said that people should not discount Maximum Security who is unbeaten in four starts. “He could be a freak,” Battaglia said of Maximum Security. “We don’t know how good that horse is. Everybody says, ‘Oh, well, he got away with easy fractions (in the Florida Derby).’ You just don’t see a horse with three sprints under him jump up and run a mile and an eighth like he did. That was huge.”
There is no question that this year’s Kentucky Derby could see at least six or seven horses go off at single-digit odds. Roadster, Omaha Beach, Game Winner, Improbable and Maximum Security are definitely going to go off at single-digit odds and it would not be a surprise if a couple other horses were listed at odds of less than 10-1.
The 2019 Kentucky Derby takes place on Saturday, May 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky and can be seen on NBC.
Check out the latest Kentucky Derby odds at BookMaker.eu.
