The Kentucky Derby will start the 2025 competition for horse racing’s Triple Crown on Saturday with a field of 20 horses set to race in the annual Run for the Roses.
Journalism, who won three straight graded-stakes races, was picked as the morning-line favorite by Mike Battaglia, the oddsmaker at the home of the Derby, Churchill Downs Racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky.
2025 Kentucky Derby horses and odds
Battaglia gave Journalism 3-1 odds after last Saturday’s post-position draw. The odds will change leading up to Saturday’s approximate post time of 6:57 p.m. EDT as bettors place their wagers. Here’s a list of the Derby horses in order by their number with their morning-line odds:
- 1. Citizen Bull, 20-1
- 2. Neoequos, 30-1
- 3. Final Gambit, 30-1
- 5. American Promise, 30-1
- 6. Admire Daytona, 30-1
- 7. Luxor Café, 15-1
- 8. Journalism, 3-1
- 9. Burnham Square, 12-1
- 10. Grande, 20-1
- 11. Flying Mohawk, 30-1
- 12. East Avenue, 20-1
- 13. Publisher, 20-1
- 14. Tiztastic, 20-1
- 15. Render Judgment, 30-1
- 16. Coal Battle, 30-1
- 17. Sandman, 6-1
- 18. Sovereignty, 5-1
- 19. Chunk of Gold, 30-1
- 20. Owen Almighty, 30-1
- 21. Baeza, 12-1
The Derby field has been capped at 20 horses since 1975. Most of the horses became eligible for the Derby by earning points in a series of races in the U.S. that started last September. Journalism worked his way up the leaderboard in California by winning the Los Alamitos Futurity Stakes in December, March’s San Felipe Stakes and last month’s Santa Anita Derby.
Journalism’s trainer, Michael McCarthy, lives in Southern California’s Altadena community, which was devastated by massive wildfires that tore through the area earlier this year.
“It’s been a few months now, people are still healing, people are still without a place to live, so maybe for a couple hours on Saturday, we can provide them a little bit of entertainment,” McCarthy told CBS News’ Jim Axelrod.
Sovereignty and Sandman could pose the closest challenge to Journalism with 5-1 and 6-1 morning-line odds, respectively. Sovereignty comes to Louisville after finishing second in March’s Florida Derby and winning the Fountain of Youth Stakes earlier in the month, as well as the Street Sense Stakes in October. Sandman won the Arkansas Derby in March after coming in third in February’s Rebel Stakes and second in the Southwest Stakes in January.
It will be a tall order for this year’s Derby to have a closer ending than last year’s photo finish. Mystik Dan won by a nose in 2024 over Sierra Leone and Forever Young in the closest three-horse finish at the Derby since 1947, according to Churchill Downs.
Jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard Mystik Dan for the dramatic Derby ending, a day after riding Thorpedo Anna to victory in the all-filly Kentucky Oaks — the first time one jockey won both of the weekend’s two big races since 2009. In this year’s Derby, Hernandez will be riding Burnham Square, the bay gelding who won last month’s Blue Grass Stakes in Kentucky and Florida’s Holy Bull Stakes in February and was given 12-1 odds in the morning line.
The same odds were given to Rodriguez, the winner of last month’s Wood Memorial Stakes in New York who initially drew the No. 4 post for the Derby. But the dark bay colt was scratched on Thursday over what co-owner Tom Ryan said in a statement was a “small but slightly sensitive foot bruise that will need a few more days.”
The scratch made room for the Derby’s only other eligible horse, Baeza, to enter the field. The bay colt, who got 12-1 odds in the morning line, came in second behind Journalism in the Santa Anita Derby.
Rodriguez, who Ryan said will now be targeted for the Preakness Stakes in Baltimore later this month, is trained by Bob Baffert, who still has a horse set to enter the starting gate Saturday. Baffert is returning to the Derby after a three-year suspension from Churchill Downs following the now-deceased Medina Spirit’s failed post-Derby drug test in 2021 and subsequent disqualification.
Baffert’s other horse in this year’s Derby, Citizen Bull, is among the five colts given 20-1 odds in the morning line. In California, Citizen Bull won the Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in November and the American Pharoah Stakes in October, and came in fourth in the Santa Anita Derby won by Journalism.
The other four colts given 20-1 morning-line odds are East Avenue, Grande, Publisher and Tiztastic.
But the odds aren’t a crystal ball. The last time a morning-line favorite took first place at the Derby was in 2018, when Justify won the Triple Crown. Last year, Mystik Dan got 20-1 odds in the morning line — which improved to 18-1 by post time — before winning the Derby. The bay colt launched from the No. 3 post, which Final Gambit drew for Saturday’s Derby with 30-1 odds in the morning line.
The winner of Kentucky’s Jeff Ruby Steaks in March, Final Gambit, is among nine horses given the same long-shot odds, which also include Admire Daytona, American Promise, Chunk of Gold, Coal Battle, Flying Mohawk, Neoequos, Owen Almighty and Render Judgment.
Luxor Café, with 15-1 morning-line odds, and Admire Daytona are the two colts who qualified for the Derby outside of the U.S. Luxor Café won Japan’s Fukuryu Stakes in March and the Hyacinth Stakes in February. Admire Daytona came in fourth in the Hyacinth Stakes and won the UAE Derby in the United Arab Emirates last month.
Alex Sundby is a senior editor at CBSNews.com. In addition to editing content, Alex also covers breaking news, writing about crime and severe weather as well as everything from multistate lottery jackpots to the July Fourth hot dog eating contest.
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