Road to 2025 Kentucky Derby: Meet 20 top horses on trail for Run for the Roses (2025)

Table of Contents

Barnes Built Bullard Burnham Square Captain Cook Chancer McPatrick Citizen Bull Coal Battle Disco Time East Avenue First Resort Jonathan’s Way Journalism Patch Adams River Thames Rodriguez Sandman Sovereignty Speed King Tappan Street How to watch 2025 Kentucky Derby What time is the Kentucky Derby?

Jason FrakesLouisville Courier Journal

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Citizen Bull, trained by Bob Baffert, was the 2-year-old champion and won his 2025 debut on Feb. 1
Saturday's Risen Star at Fair Grounds is the first prep race that will offer 50 Kentucky Derby qualifying points to the winner

All eyes will be on New Orleans on Saturday as the road to the 2025 Kentucky Derby kicks into high gear.

Saturday’s $500,000, Grade 2 Risen Star at Fair Grounds is the first Kentucky Derby prep race of the year that will offer the winner 50 qualifying points toward the Run for the Roses on May 3 at Churchill Downs.

The Risen Star is one of seven races in the series that award the winner 50 qualifying points toward the Kentucky Derby. That includes a new addition to the series — the Virginia Derby on March 15 at Colonial Downs.

The seven major races in the series — starting March 22 with the Jeff Ruby Steaks at Turfway Park and Louisiana Derby at Fair Grounds — will award 100 points to the winner and 50 to the runner-up.

The championship series will run through mid-April, with the last major day of prep races coming April 5 with the Wood Memorial at Aqueduct, the Blue Grass at Keeneland and the Santa Anita Derby.

Keeneland also will host the final points race — the Lexington — on April 12, with 20 points going to the winner.

The list of top Kentucky Derby contenders will inevitably change, but here are 20 horses to watch over the next few weeks, listed alphabetically.

Barnes

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owner: Zedan Racing Stables (Amr Zedan)

Jockey: Juan Hernandez

Sire: Into Mischief

Dam: All American Dream, by American Pharoah

Price tag: $3.2 million

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-0-0 in two starts

Career earnings: $189,000

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 0

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 10-1

Last start: Won Grade 2 San Vicente on Jan. 4 at Santa Anita

Possible next start: Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn or Grade 2 San Felipe on March 1 at Santa Anita

Notable: At $3.2 million, Barnes is the highest-priced thoroughbred nominated to the 2025 Triple Crown races. Named for Jimmy Barnes — Baffert’s longtime assistant trainer — Barnes made his debut Nov. 27 with a victory in a maiden special weight at Churchill Downs. It was Baffert’s first race at Churchill Downs since May 2021, following a three-year suspension.

Built

Trainer: Wayne Catalano

Owner: Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners (Aron Wellman)

Jockey: Luis Saez

Sire: Hard Spun

Dam: Sea Garden, by Curlin

Price tag: $260,000 at 204 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-1-1 in four starts

Career earnings: $174,204

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 20 (No. 8)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 28-1

Last start: Second in Grade 3 Lecomte on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds

Possible next start: Grade 2 Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds

Notable: Built got his racing start in Kentucky, finishing third in his debut on Aug. 24 at Ellis Park and then breaking his maiden Oct. 6 at Churchill Downs. He won the Gun Runner Stakes on Dec. 21 at Fair Grounds before a runner-up finish to Disco Time in the Lecomte. Saez will have the ride in the Risen Star after Jareth Loveberry had the mount in Built’s last two races at Fair Grounds.

Bullard

Trainer: Michael McCarthy

Owners: Talla Racing (Michael Talla); St. Elias Stables (Vincent Viola); Three Chimneys Farm (Goncolo Torrealba); West Point Thoroughbreds (Terry Finley)

Jockey: Umberto Rispoli

Sire: Gun Runner

Dam: Reve d’Amour, by Warrior’s Reward

Price tag: $675,000 at 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-0-1 in three starts

Career earnings: $129,000

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 0

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 33-1

Last start: Third in Grade 2 San Vicente on Jan. 4 at Santa Anita

Possible next start: Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn

Notable: Bullard won both of his starts as a 2-year-old at Del Mar — including the Grade 3 Bob Hope on Nov. 17 — before a third-place finish in the San Vicente. He finished behind two Bob Baffert trainees in Barnes and Romanesque.

Burnham Square

Trainer: Ian Wilkes

Owner: Whitham Thoroughbreds (Janis Whitham)

Jockey: Edgard Zayas

Sire: Liam’s Map

Dam: Linda, by Scat Daddy

Price tag: Homebred

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-1-1 in four starts

Career earnings: $202,330

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 20 (No. 4)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 22-1

Last start: Won Grade 3 Holy Bull on Feb. 1 at Gulfstream

Possible next start: Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 1 at Gulfstream

Notable: Burnham Square got his racing start in Kentucky, finishing second and third, respectively, in maiden races at Keeneland and Churchill Downs. He’s 2 for 2 at Gulfstream and has benefited, Wilkes said, from the addition of blinkers in both of those starts. “He wouldn’t run in the race,” Wilkes said. “He’d run away from horses. He wouldn’t run into the dirt. Jocks were riding him at the half-mile pole and he was going nowhere. He just needed blinkers. Then he’d run home, get beat a half-length for all of it and then be 4 lengths in front after the wire.”

Captain Cook

Trainer: Rick Dutrow Jr.

Chancer McPatrick

Trainer: Chad Brown

Owner: Flanagan Racing (Sean Flanagan)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Sire: McKinzie

Dam: Bernadreamy, by Bernardini

Price tag: $725,000 at 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 3-0-0 in four starts

Career earnings: $535,000

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 18)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 30-1

Last start: Sixth in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Possible next start: Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby on March 8

Notable: Chancer McPatrick was 3 for 3, including Grade 1 victories in the Hopeful and Champagne, before his disappointing finish in the Juvenile. Following that race, Chancer McPatrick had surgery to remove a “tiny flake” in a front ankle, delaying the early weeks of his 3-year-old training.

Citizen Bull

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Owners: SF Racing (Gavin Murphy); Starlight Racing (Jack Wolf); Madaket Stables (Sol Kumin); Stonestreet Stables (Barbara Banke); Dianne Bashor; Determined Stables (Matt Dorman); Robert Masterson; Tom Ryan; Waves Edge Capital (Gregg Slager); Catherine Donovan

Jockey: Martin Garcia

Sire: Into Mischief

Dam: No Joke, by Distorted Humor

Price tag: $675,000 at 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 4-0-1 in five starts

Career earnings: $1,421,000

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 60 (No. 1)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 10-1

Last start: Won Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita

Possible next start: Grade 2 San Felipe on March 1 at Santa Anita or Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby on April 5

Notable: Citizen Bull was the 2-year-old champion after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at 15-1 odds. His last three victories have all come in front-running fashion. “The ‘Bull’ looked good coming down (the stretch),” Baffert said after the Robert B. Lewis victory. “It’s funny, you see him and you don’t realize that he has those gears. He won’t show you that in the morning, but he does have gears.”

More: Trainers Todd Fincher, Bob Baffert, D. Wayne Lukas eye 2025 Sunland Derby on Feb. 16

Coal Battle

Trainer: Lonnie Briley

Owner: Norman Stables (Robbie Norman)

Jockey: Juan Vargas

Sire: Coal Front

Dam: Wolfblade, by Midshipman

Price tag: $70,000 at 2023 Texas Thoroughbred Association Yearling Sale

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 4-0-0 in six starts

Career earnings: $453,875

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 20 (No. 3)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 45-1

Last start: Won Smarty Jones Stakes Jan. 4 at Oaklawn

Possible next start: Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn

Notable: An underdog story, Coal Battle has victories at four tracks — Evangeline, Delta Downs, Remington Park and Oaklawn. “Every time we run him, he just seems to surprise us,” the 72-year-old Briley said after the Smarty Jones. “He’s a neat little horse. I don’t know if it’s set in yet (having a Kentucky Derby candidate). No, it’s crazy for the little guy.” Briley, who began training in 1988, is looking for his first graded-stakes victory.

Disco Time

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owner: Juddmonte (Fahad bin Khalid)

Jockey: Florent Geroux

Sire: Not This Time

Dam: Disco Chick, by Jump Start

Price tag: Homebred

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 3-0-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $291,960

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 20 (No. 5)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 18-1

Last start: Won Grade 3 Lecomte on Jan. 18 at Fair Grounds

Possible next start: Grade 2 Louisiana Derby on March 22 at Fair Grounds, Grade 1 Arkansas Derby on March 29 at Oaklawn or Grade 1 Blue Grass on April 5 at Keeneland

Notable: Disco Time won his first two races last November at Churchill Downs and then won the Lecomte as the favorite, beating Built by a neck. Disco Time was expected to return in Saturday’s Risen Star but suffered “a little setback,” Cox told Daily Racing Form. Disco Time hasn’t recorded a published workout since the Lecomte victory.

East Avenue

Trainer: Brendan Walsh

Owner: Godolphin (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum)

Jockey: Tyler Gaffalione

Sire: Medaglia d’Oro

Dam: Cappucino Bay, by Bailjumper

Price tag: Homebred

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-0-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $410,645

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 19)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 18-1

Last start: Ninth in Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile on Nov. 1 at Del Mar

Possible next start: Grade 2 Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds

Notable: East Avenue was the 9-5 favorite in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but stumbled at the start and never was in contention. His two victories came in Kentucky — Aug. 24 at Ellis Park and Oct. 5 in the Grade 1 Claiborne Breeders’ Futurity at Keeneland. East Avenue is the 9-5 morning-line favorite in a field of 13 for Saturday’s Risen Star.

First Resort

Trainer: Eoin Harty

Owner: Godolphin (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum)

Jockey: Luis Saez

Sire: Uncle Mo

Dam: Fair Maiden, by Street Boss

Price tag: Homebred

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-1-0 in four starts

Career earnings: $338,671

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 20)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 50-1

Last start: Won Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs

Possible next start: John Battaglia Stakes on Feb. 22 at Turfway Park

Notable: Both of First Resort’s victories have come in Kentucky, breaking his maiden last July at Ellis Park and winning the Kentucky Jockey Club at 6-1 odds. Harty told Daily Racing Form that First Resort missed some training at Turfway Park because of freezing weather.

Jonathan’s Way

Trainer: Philip Bauer

Owner: Rigney Racing (Richard Rigney)

Jockey: Jose Ortiz

Sire: Vekoma

Dam: Female Drama, by Indian Charlie

Price tag: $290,000 at 2022 Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale

Bred in: Ohio

Career record: 2-1-0 in four starts

Career earnings: $268,530

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 15 (No. 12)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 45-1

Last start: Second in Grade 2 Kentucky Jockey Club on Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs

Possible next start: Grade 2 Risen Star on Saturday at Fair Grounds

Notable: After winning the Grade 3 Iroquois last September at Churchill Downs, Jonathan’s Way was one of the top contenders in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile but finished a disappointing seventh. He bounced back with a runner-up finish behind First Resort in the Kentucky Jockey Club. Only one Ohio-bred has won the Kentucky Derby — Wintergreen (1909).

Journalism

Trainer: Michael McCarthy

Owners: Bridlewood Farm (Joan and Leslie Malone); Don Alberto Stable (Liliana Solari Falabella, Andrea Heller, Carlos Heller); Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners (Aron Wellman); Elayne Stables 5; Robert LaPenta.

Jockey: Umberto Rispoli

Sire: Curlin

Dam: Mopotism, by Uncle Mo

Price tag: $825,000 at 2023 Fasig-Tipton New York Saratoga Select Yearling Sale

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-0-1 in three starts

Career earnings: $158,880

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 21)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 30-1

Last start: Won Grade 2 Los Alamitos Futurity on Dec. 14

Possible next start: Grade 2 San Felipe on March 1 at Santa Anita

Notable: Journalism did all of his racing as a 2-year-old in California and was given some time off before resuming training in late January. He posted a solid five-furlong breeze in 59.80 seconds on Feb. 9 at Santa Anita. Curlin, Journalism’s sire, finished third in the 2007 Kentucky Derby and finished his career with seven Grade 1 victories, including the 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Patch Adams

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owners: CHC Inc. (Kit Ng); WinStar Farm (Kenny Troutt)

Jockey: Flavien Prat

Sire: Into Mischief

Dam: Well Humored, by Distorted Humor

Price tag: Homebred

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 1-0-1 in three starts

Career earnings: $132,125

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 4 (No. 39)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 20-1

Last start: Fourth in Grade 3 Southwest on Jan. 25 at Oaklawn

Possible next start: TBA

Notable: Patch Adams was third in his debut Oct. 11 at Keeneland and then broke his maiden Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs. He’s been training at Payson Park since his fourth-place finish as the 4-5 favorite in the Southwest.

River Thames

Trainer: Todd Pletcher

Owners: CHC Inc. (Kit Ng); WinStar Farm (Kenny Troutt)

Jockey: John Velazquez

Sire: Maclean’s Music

Dam: Proportionality, by Discreet Cat

Price tag: $200,000 at 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga New York-Bred Yearling Sale

Bred in: New York

Career record: 2-0-0 in two starts

Career earnings: $85,200

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 0

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 50-1

Last start: Won allowance optional claiming race Feb. 1 at Gulfstream

Possible next start: Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 1 at Gulfstream

Notable: Both victories have come at Gulfstream, including a 6 ½-length romp in the Feb. 1 victory that put River Thames on the Derby trail. Pletcher said he isn’t committed to returning in the Fountain of Youth. “It gives you four weeks to the Fountain of Youth from that (Feb. 1) race, eight weeks to the Florida Derby,” Pletcher said. “There’s obviously other prep races, as well. We’re going to kind of just sit back and see, let him kind of guide us on when we think he wants to run back.”

Rodriguez

Trainer: Bob Baffert

Jockey: Juan Hernandez

Sire: Authentic

Dam: Cayala, by Cherokee Run

Price tag: $485,000 at 2023 Keeneland September Yearling Sale

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 1-2-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $86,800

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 26)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 22-1

Last start: Second in Grade 3 Robert B. Lewis on Feb. 1 at Santa Anita

Possible next start: Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn or Grade 2 San Felipe on March 1 at Santa Anita

Notable: Rodriguez broke his maiden in his second start, winning Jan. 4 at Santa Anita, before finishing 3 ¾ lengths behind stablemate Citizen Bull in the Robert B. Lewis. The horse is named for Sixto Rodriguez, an American musician who gained fame in South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Sandman

Trainer: Mark Casse

Owners: D.J. Stable (Leonard Green); St. Elias Stable (Vincent Viola); West Point Thoroughbreds (Terry Finley); CJ Stables (Charles Sonson)

Jockey: Cristian Torres

Sire: Tapit

Dam: Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor

Price tag: $1.2 million at 2024 Ocala Breeders’ March Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-1-1 in six starts

Career earnings: $344,595

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 14 (No. 15)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 15-1

Last start: Second in Grade 3 Southwest on Jan. 25 at Oaklawn

Possible next start: Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn

Notable: Sandman has raced three times at Churchill Downs but never finished better than third (Grade 3 Street Sense on Oct. 27). Sandman broke badly in the Southwest but rallied to finish a length behind Speed King in second. “We lost the race at the start,” Torres said after the Southwest. “I let him settle the first part of the race. He’s a nice horse and responded really well when I asked him at the three-eighths (pole), and he finished up. But definitely the start cost us. He just stumbled out of there.”

Sovereignty

Trainer: Bill Mott

Owner: Godolphin (Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum)

Jockey: Junior Alvarado

Sire: Into Mischief

Dam: Crowned, by Bernardini

Price tag: Homebred

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 1-1-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $143,280

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 22)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 18-1

Last start: Won Grade 3 Street Sense on Oct. 27 at Churchill Downs

Possible next start: Grade 2 Fountain of Youth on March 1 at Gulfstream

Notable: After a pair of solid races in New York, Sovereignty showed his promise in the Street Sense, rallying from last place in a nine-horse field to win by 5 lengths. He missed some training over the winter at Payson Park because of a fever.

Speed King

Trainer: Ron Moquett

Owner: Triton Thoroughbreds (Ted Bowman)

Jockey: Rafael Bejarano

Sire: Volatile

Dam: Athenian Beauty, by Corinthian

Price tag: $100,000 at 2024 Ocala Breeders’ Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 2-1-0 in three starts

Career earnings: $669,000

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 25 (No. 2)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 33-1

Last start: Won Grade 3 Southwest on Jan. 25 at Oaklawn

Possible next start: Grade 2 Rebel on Feb. 22 at Oaklawn

Notable: Speed King won his maiden race Nov. 1 at Churchill Downs and won the Southwest at 14-1 odds. “I took the lead and tried to get him relaxed,” Bejarano said after the Southwest. “When I took a hold and got him relaxed, he responded to me. The horse, I think he can go a mile and a quarter. He’s improving every time he runs. I think this is a nice horse.”

Tappan Street

Trainer: Brad Cox

Owners: WinStar Farm (Kenny Troutt); CHC Inc. (Kit Ng); Cold Press Racing

Jockey: Luis Saez

Sire: Into Mischief

Dam: Virginia Key, by Distorted Humor

Price tag: $1 million at 2023 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select Yearling Sale

Bred in: Kentucky

Career record: 1-1-0 in two starts

Career earnings: $73,000

Road to the Kentucky Derby points (ranking): 10 (No. 25)

Caesars Sportsbook Nevada odds (as of Feb. 9): 40-1

Last start: Second in Grade 3 Holy Bull on Feb. 1 at Gulfstream

Possible next start: Grade 1 Florida Derby on March 29 at Gulfstream

Notable: Lightly raced colt broke his maiden Dec. 28 at Gulfstream before finishing 1 ¾ lengths behind Burnham Square in the Holy Bull. “I thought he ran really big,” Cox said after the Holy Bull. “He was wide throughout. Young horse, still learning, second start of his life. He’s going to really move forward off this, I believe.”

How to watch 2025 Kentucky Derby

Last May,NBC Sports announced a partnership with Churchill Downsto present the Kentucky Derby on NBC and Peacock through 2032.

The extension includes multiplatform rights to the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Derby and Oaks Day programming, which will be presented on NBC, Peacock, USA Network and additional NBCU platforms.

You can stream the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Fubo and Peacock.

What time is the Kentucky Derby?

While not yet official, the post time for the 151st Kentucky Derby will be about 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.

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Kentucky Derby 2025: Everything you need to know ahead of the Run for the Roses

Jason Frakes: 502-582-4046; jfrakes@courier-journal.com; Follow on X@KentuckyDerby_CJ

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