The 2025 Kentucky Derby has a deep field with proven winners like Journalism (3-1), Sovereignty (5-1) and Sandman (6-1) at the top of the 2025 Kentucky Derby odds. However, the last four Run of the Roses champions had odds of 10-1 or greater entering the first leg of the Triple Crown. Is there a longshot in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field you should eye to return a sizable payday at the Kentucky Derby 2025? The 2025 Kentucky Derby post time is 6:57 p.m. ET from Churchill Downs. Rodriguez was scratched from the 2025 Kentucky Derby lineup on Thursday, and as a result, Baeza (12-1) entered the lineup. With the Kentucky Derby annually featuring the largest field in North American racing, you'll want to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, considering the success she's had handicapping this race.
In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager three years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won.
She started off 2025 by correctly going all-in on Citizen Bull to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, and she also predicted Forever Young's win in the $20 million Saudi Cup, Journalism's win in the San Felipe Stakes and Sandman's win in the Arkansas Derby this year. Anyone who has followed her on those picks on betting sites like FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires and 1/ST BET is up huge.
Now, with the 2025 Kentucky Derby post positions set and odds on the board, Yu is sharing her 2025 Kentucky Derby betting picks and 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions over at SportsLine. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions
One surprise: Yu is completely fading Sandman, even though he won the Arkansas Derby and is one of the top favorites. Sandman is trained by Mark Casse, who is winless in 10 Kentucky Derby starts. The 64-year-old trainer has never had a horse finish in the top three, which has Yu weary of playing Sandman in her 2025 Kentucky Derby picks.
Sandman has run only one Grade 1 stakes race over his career. The colt is fathered by Tapit, one of the winningest sires in history, but he has never produced a Kentucky Derby winner. Sandman wasn't the favorite entering the nine-horse field in his Arkansas Derby victory, so at the third-shortest odds in a 20-horse 2025 Kentucky Derby field, Yu isn't backing Sandman on Saturday. See which other 2025 Kentucky Derby horses to avoid at SportsLine.
Another curveball: Yu is high on Grande, even though he is a 20-1 longshot in the Kentucky Derby odds 2025. Grande is one of the most inexperienced horses in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field, but that's partly why Yu sees value. Grande has won two of three career races and finished second behind Bob Baffert's Rodriguez at the 2025 Wood Memorial.
Grande is trained by Todd Pletcher, who has had the most Kentucky Derby starters (65) since 2000. He's won the Kentucky Derby twice with eight top-three finishers. Grande is Pletcher's only horse in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field, so he will be the Hall of Fame trainer's sole focus heading into the first leg of the Triple Crown, and at 20-1 odds, Yu sees value in Grande at Churchill Downs. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 Kentucky Derby picks
Moreover, Yu is high on a double-digit longshot who has been getting over the Churchill Downs surface "perfectly" this week. She is including this horse in her 2025 Kentucky Derby bets, and so should you. She's sharing which 2025 Kentucky Derby horses to back at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2025 Kentucky Derby? What double-digit longshot is a must-back, and how has Yu constructed her wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Yu's picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the Santa Anita-based racing insider who has a long history of success in the Kentucky Derby, and find out.
2025 Kentucky Derby odds, post positions
2025 Kentucky Derby horse previews
1 Citizen Bull | 2 Neoequos | 3 Final Gambit | 5 American Promise | 6 Admire Daytona | 7 Luxor Cafe | 8 Journalism | 9 Burnham Square | 10 Grande | 11 Flying Mohawk | 12 East Avenue | 13 Publisher | 14 Tiztastic | 15 Render Judgment | 16 Coal Battle | 17 Sandman | 18 Sovereignty | 19 Chunk of Gold | 20 Owen Almighty | 21 Baeza
