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Kentucky Derby Odds 2025: Track Favorites to Win at Churchill Downs

Ian Jones

By Ian Jones

Updated:


  • Track the average odds to win the 2025 Kentucky Derby for the most talked-about horses competing at this year’s Derby
  • Early futures favorites for the 2025 Kentucky Derby include East Avenue, Chancer McPatrick, and Jonathan’s Way
  • View which trainers and jockeys have had the most success at Churchill Downs

The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby is scheduled to take place at historic Churchill Downs in Louisville on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

We’re tracking the current Kentucky Derby odds for every fleet-footed thoroughbred since they became available. The main graph on this page has been generated by calculating the average from many of the most trusted horse racing sites.

Kentucky Derby 2025 Favorites to Win

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2025 Kentucky Derby Odds

Horse Odds
Barnes +600
Patch Adams +1200
East Avenue +1500
Citizen Bull +1700
Journalism +2000
Sovereignty +2100
Disco Time +2100
Rodriguez +2200
Chancer McPatrick +2600
Grande +2800

Kentucky Derby odds as of January 20th at TwinSpires.

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Notes on the Kentucky Derby odds movement ahead of raceday at Churchill Downs include:

  • [Jan 20] – Barnes once again topped the futures pool for January, closing at +600, but the biggest jump not much further down the table. Journalism, trained by 2021 Preakness winner Michael W. McCarthy (Rombauer), jumped from +5200 to +2000 in the latest pool.
  • [Dec 1] – December’s futures pool for the Kentucky Derby closed with Barnes, trained by the legendary Bob Baffert, as the early favorite at +1300. East Avenue, who topped the November futures pool, slid to +1500.
  • [Nov 21] – The first of six 2025 Kentucky Derby Futures odds pools was released at the end of October and it was East Avenue announced as the early favorite. Trained by Brendan P. Walsh, East Avenue opens at +1000 to win.

Kentucky Derby Past Winners: Recent 12 to Know About

Year Horse Jockey Trainer Winning Time
2024 Mystik Dan Brian Hernandez Jr Kenneth G. McPeek 2:03.34
2023 Mage Javier Castellano Gustavo Delgado 2:01.57
2022 Rich Strike Sonny Leon Eric R. Reed 2:02.61
2021 Mandaloun Florent Geroux Brad H. Cox 2:01.02
2020 Authentic John Velazquez Bob Baffert 2:00.61
2019 Country House Flavien Prat William I. Mott 2:03.93
2018 Justify Mike E Smith Bob Baffert 2:04.20
2017 Always Dreaming John Velazquez Todd Pletcher 2:03.59
2016 Nyquist Mario Gutierrez Doug F O’Neill 2:01.31
2015 American Pharoah Victor Espinoza Bob Baffert 2:03.02
2014 California Chrome Victor Espinoza Art Sherman 2:03.66
2013 Orb Joel Rosario Claude R. McGaughey III 2:02.89

It ultimately came down to a photo finish, but eventually Mystik Dan was named as the winner of the 150th Kentucky Derby. The lead changed several times throughout the race, but the 17-1 thoroughbred edged out Sierra Leone (9/2) and Forever Young (7/1) for the win. The 2024 Derby offered a record-breaking $5 million purse, with Mystik Dan taking home $3.1 million.

Trainer Kenneth G. McPeek became the first trainer since 1952 to win both the Derby and the Kentucky Oaks on the same weekend, while Brian Hernandez Jr. was the first jockey to perform the feet since 2009. They performed the feat with MYstik Dan in the Derby and Thorpedo Anna in the Oaks.

Most Successful Kentucky Derby Trainers

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For a moment Bob Baffert was the winningest trainer of all time with seven wins. But after being stripped of the 2021 Kentucky Derby win, Baffert remains at six wins. That leaves him level with Ben A. Jones, who won his sixth back in 1952 with Hill Gail.

In 2024, it was Kenneth G. Mc Peek who claimed his first Derby win as the trainer of Mage.

Jockeys with the Most Kentucky Derby Wins

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Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartack each lead the way for all-time jockey wins with five each. Following them is Bill Shoemaker who was four wins, last winning in 1986 with Ferdinand.

John Velazquez is right up there in the conversation for best all-time as well. For a moment he too had four wins, however, lost one when Medina Spirit was disqualified in 2021. Instead, Florent Geroux, riding Mandaloun claimed his first jockey win at the Kentucky Derby.

It was another first-time winner in 2024 with Brian Hernandez Jr., riding Mystik Dan in his eleventh appearance at the Kentucky Derby. In 2024, Hernandez also became the ninth jockey, and first since 2009, to win both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby in the same year.

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How to Place Bets on Kentucky Derby?

There are many ways to bet on the Kentucky Derby. From picking a winner to picking the top two or three to a whole host of exotic bets. Here is a breakdown of some of the most popular.

Futures Wagers

Futures wagers in horse racing can be done much like futures bets in any other sport. Get the best odds to win the Kentucky Derby by using your sportsbook of choice to place your bet. You can bet on the Kentucky Derby all throughout the year leading up to the race in May. Odds will fluctuate greatly throughout the year as horses begin to gain Kentucky Derby qualifying points.

Win, Place, Show

There are three main types of bets you can make in the 2022 Kentucky Derby. When you look at who is supposed to win the Kentucky Derby, you’ll probably land on a few of the top contenders. But it may be hard to pick who finishes the race in first place.

Therefore, you have some choices. You can bet on a horse to win (first place), to place (come first or second) or to show (come first, second or third).

You will obviously get better odds for just picking the outright winner. You’ll get shorter odds for making a place or show bet, but you’ll also have a greater chance of winning.

Exacta Bet

When placing an Exacta bet, you are not only betting on who will come first, but also who will come second. You’ll usually get some great long odds on predicting this outcome because you need two outcomes to be correct. You will need your horses to come in the exact order you choose in first and second to win. You can also bet an Exacta Box, for shorter odds, but for your two horses to come in any order in the top two.

Trifecta Bet

The Trifecta bet is much like the Exacta, however, you are instead picking which horses will come in first, second and third and in that exact order. You’ll get great odds for making this prediction correctly as it’s extremely hard to do. Similarily to the Exacta Box, you can bet a Trifecta Box, where your three horses can come in any order in the top three for shorter odds.

When is the 2024 Kentucky Derby?

The 2025 Kentucky Derby is on Saturday, May 3, 2025.

Who is the Favorite to Win the 2025 Kentucky Derby?

Currently, the top favorite is East Avenue at +1000 odds.

How Much Does the Kentucky Derby Trainer Win?

The 2024 Kentucky Derby winning trainer received $3.1 million of the total $5 million prize purse.

How Much Money Does the Jockey Win at the Kentucky Derby?

The 2024 Kentucky Derby winning jockey gets 10% of the winning prize. Trainers get $3.1 million, therefore, the winning jockey receives $310,000.


Archived Kentucky Derby Odds: 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019

Ian Jones
Ian Jones

MLB, NFL & MLS Writer

With a background in content marketing, literature, and design, Ian has been bringing a little bit of everything to SBD since 2021. In addition to having penned articles for Eighty-Six Forever, Ian can and will talk your ear off over almost any sport you can think of.

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