Zandon is 3-1 favorite for Derby
Zandon and filly Nest are the morning-line favorites for the 148th Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks, respectively, at Churchill Downs, which will host both marquee races at full capacity for the first time since 2019.
Zandon, trained by Chad Brown, drew 3-1 odds Monday and will start from the No. 10 post among 20 horses for the $3 million marquee event for 3-yearolds. The colt moved to second in Derby points behind Epicenter after rallying from the back of the field to win last month’s Blue Grass at Keeneland in Lexington. He has two wins, a second-place finish and a third in four career starts.
Zandon has the “perfect” spot dead center with Flavien Prat aboard, Brown said.
“We’re ready to go,” added Brown, who enters his eighth Derby seeking his first win after Good Magic finished third in 2018.
Epicenter was initially
expected to be the Derby favorite following consecutive graded stakes wins, including the Louisiana Derby in March. The horse is the 7-2 second betting choice after drawing the No. 3 post.
Messier, one of two colts trained by Derby firsttimer Tim Yakteen after he took over their training this spring for suspended Hall of Famer Bob Baffert, is the 8-1 third choice and will start from the No. 6 post.
Yakteen’s other entrant, Santa Anita Derby winner
Taiba, is a 12-1 choice from the No. 12 post.
This weekend’s races will happen without Baffert, whom Churchill Downs suspended for two years following Medina Spirit’s failed postrace drug test and eventual disqualification as the winner of last year’s Derby.
Meanwhile, four-time Derby-winning trainer D. Wayne Lukas gets another chance for a fifth victory with Ethereal Road, who entered the field on Monday after Un Ojo withdrew.