2022 Kentucky Derby Betting Odds Preview

Horse racing returns to the betting spotlight this weekend as the race for the Triple Crown begins with the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby.

The Derby field is full this year with 20 horses. At Bovada Sportsbook, the favorite is Epicenter at +300, followed closely by Zandon at +450.

Epicenter is trainer Steve Asmussen’s latest shot at his first Kentucky Derby win to go along with his two wins in the Preakness Stakes and solo win in the Belmont Stakes.

Epicenter tops odds to earn Asmussen first Derby win

Epicenter has won four of his last five races, including a pair of Derby prep races, the Louisiana Derby and the Risen Star Stakes. Epicenter will start in the No. 3 post position, which has housed five previous Derby winners.

Zandon is trained by Chad Brown, who is also looking for his first Derby win to go along with a win in the Preakness. Zandon is coming off a win in the Blue Grass Stakes last month. He also raced in the Risen Star Stakes where he placed third behind Epicenter. Zandon will start from the No. 10 post, which has housed nine previous Derby winners.

Following Epicenter and Zandon on the Kentucky Derby odds at Bovada are Taiba at +750 and Messier at +800. Both horses are trained by Tim Yakteen after being transferred from Bob Baffert’s stables. Baffert and all his horses are banned from the Derby due to Medina Spirit’s positive drug test at last year’s race.

Both Messier and Taiba last raced in the Santa Anita Derby last month with Taiba finishing first and Messier second. Messier won the Robert D. Lewis Stakes earlier this year and finished second in the Los Alamitos Futurity in December.

Taiba, Messier draw less favorable post positions

Messier has drawn the No. 6 post position, which has housed only two Derby winners, while Taiba will come out of the No. 12 post, which has housed only three winners.

Rounding out the top five on the odds list at Bovada is Mo Donegal at +1000. Mo Donegal is one of two horses in the field trained by Todd Pletcher. The other is Charge It, who is listed at +1200. Pletcher has trained two previous Derby winners, Super Saver in 2010 and Always Dreaming in 2017.

Mo Donegal is coming off a win in the Wood Memorial and also won the Remsen Stakes late last year where he bested Zandon. In his other prep race, Mo Donegal placed third in the Holy Bull Stakes. He drew the No. 1 post, which has housed eight previous Derby winners.

The post that has started the most Derby winners in history is the No. 5 post, which this year belongs to Smile Happy, a +1600 underdog. He previously finished second behind Zandon in the Blue Grass Stakes and second behind Epicenter in the Risen Star Stakes.