Todd Pletcher’s Renegade draws the inside No. 1 post and opens as the Kentucky Derby favorite

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Renegade opened Saturday as the morning line favorite for the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby, looking to overcome the inside rail post position that has not produced a winner in four decades.

The colt trained by Todd Pletcher and set to be ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr. is 4-1 after drawing the No. 1 post in the field of 20 horses for the May 2 race. No horse has finished first in the Derby from there since Ferdinand in 1986, and the most recent to be in the top three was Lookin At Lee, who was second in 2017.

Trainer Brad Cox’s No. 6 Commandment and No. 18 Further Ado are the second and third choices on the morning line each at 6-1, followed by No. 12 Chief Wallabee at 8-1 and The Puma at 10-1. Cox’s third entrant is 20-1 long shot Fulleffort, who drew the far-outside No. 20 post.

Cox’s jaw dropped when he saw Fulleffort’s draw, calling it “probably the one I’m maybe not as wild about, as excited about as the other two. He was most happy with Further Ado at No. 18, with three-time Derby-winning jockey John Velazquez aboard.

“Very happy with that post: I wanted him to draw outside, and it looks like there’s some speed to the inside of him there,” Cox said. “I do like the 6 with Commandment. Hopefully he can break and go forward. It looks like there’s a little speed around him. He can maybe save some ground going into the first turn, maybe even into the second turn.”

Two-time Triple Crown champion Bob Baffert has two chances to win the Derby for a seventh time and break a tie with Ben Jones for the most of any trainer, saddling No. 4 Litmus Test (30-1) and No. 14 Potente (20-1). Litmus Test was the last horse to get into the field earlier Saturday when Steve Asmussen and owners decided Chip Honcho will skip the race and point toward the Preakness Stakes on May 16.

A year after Bill Mott’s Sovereignty won the Derby and then the Belmont Stakes, son Riley is training his first two horses in the Triple Crown opener. He has No. 2 Albus (30-1) and No. 11 Incredibolt (20-1).

His dad’s bid to go back-to-back is Chief Wallabee.

“I don’t know him right now,” Riley Mott said. “He’s our competition. Very formidable, obviously, but we’re just focused on our horses and trying to control the things we can control — unlike the draw. It’s been fun just trying to stay focused but enjoy the moment at the same time.”

Rounding out the field are No. 3 Intrepido (30-1), No. 5 Right To Party (30-1), No. 7 Danon Bourbon (20-1), No. 8 So Happy (15-1), Japan-bred No. 10 Wonder Dean (30-1), No. 13 Silent Tactic (20-1), No. 15 Emerging Market (15-1), No. 16 Pavlovian (30-1), No. 17 Six Speed (50-1) and No. 19 Golden Tempo (30-1)

If there are scratches, there are four also-entered possibilities to join the field: Great White, Ocelli, Robusta and Corona de Oro.

Post time for the race is set for 6:57 p.m. EDT.

___

AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing