2024 Kentucky Derby odds and favorites: Who is favorite to win the race?
The 2024 Kentucky Derby is almost here, and the early odds and favorites have been released for the 20 horse field in the event.
The upcoming race will be the Kentucky Derby’s 150th anniversary, making it a particularly special year for the annual event. The starting positions have been decided for the upcoming race, so people can start to select who they want to cheer for at the Derby. You can watch live from Churchill Downs May 4 starting at 2:30 p.m. ET (1:30 p.m. CT).
In the week leading up to the race, one of the horses scheduled to compete became injured and will be unable to participate. Encino was the horse set to compete from the ninth post position, but he has been replaced by Epic Ride. Instead of Epic Ride acquiring the ninth post position in Encino’s absence, all the other horses moved up one spot. So, Epic Ride will be racing from the 20th post position for the Derby on Saturday.
Below is a list of important information for Saturday’s race, and the information was available through the courtesy of the official Kentucky Derby website.
2024 Kentucky Derby horse starting positions and odds
| Post Position | Horse | Jockey | Odds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Dornoch | Luis Saez | 20-1 |
| 2. | Sierra Leone | Tyler Gafflione | 3-1 |
| 3. | Mystik Dan | Brian Hernandez Jr. | 20-1 |
| 4. | Catching Freedom | Flavien Prat | 8-1 |
| 5. | Catalytic | Jose Ortiz | 30-1 |
| 6. | Just Steel | Keith Asmussen | 20-1 |
| 7. | Honor Marie | Ben Curtis | 20-1 |
| 8. | Just a Touch | Florent Geroux | 10-1 |
| 9. | T O Password (Japan) | Kimura Kazushi | 30-1 |
| 10. | Forever Young (Japan) | Ryusei Sakai | 10-1 |
| 11. | Track Phantom | Joel Rosario | 20-1 |
| 12. | West Saratoga | Jesus Castanon | 50-1 |
| 13. | Endlessly | Umberto Rispoli | 30-1 |
| 14. | Domestic Product | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 30-1 |
| 15. | Grand Mo the First | Emisael Jaramillo | 50-1 |
| 16. | Fierceness | John Velazquez | 5-2 |
| 17. | Stronghold | Antonio Fresu | 20-1 |
| 18. | Resilience | Junior Alvarado | 20-1 |
| 19. | Society Man | Frankie Dettori | 50-1 |
| 20. | Epic Ride (Replaced Encino) | Adam Beschizza | 50-1 |
2024 Kentucky Derby Favorites
15 of the 20 horses in this year’s Kentucky Derby have 20-1 odds or worse to win the race. The remaining five horses have at 10-1 odds or better to emerge victorious from the event.
The horse with the best odds to win the 2024 Kentucky Derby is Fierceness, who will be jockeyed by John Velazquez. Fierceness’s odds are currently 5-2, equating to +250. These odds mean that a person could win a profit of $25 when wagering $10.
Sierra Leone has the second-best odds to win the 2024 Kentucky Derby with 3-1 odds, which is the same as +300. These odds indicate that a person could win a profit of $30 when wagering $10.
Catching Freedom has the third-best odds to win the event with 8-1 odds or +800. A person wagering correctly with these odds could profit $80 from a $10 bet.
Just a Touch is currently sitting at 10-1 odds to win the 2024 Kentucky Derby, which is equivalent to +1,000. These odds will give winning bets a $100 profit for a $10 bet.
Forever Young is a horse entrant from Japan that is also entering the competition with 10-1 odds, similar to Just a Touch. If Forever Young wins this year’s Derby, then it will be the first Japanese horse to ever win the event. Forever Young will be joined by another Japanese horse in this year’s competition, T O Password.