The 2024 Kentucky Derby will take place on Saturday at Churchill Downs. On Tuesday, Encino was the first horse scratched from the 2024 Kentucky Derby field. That leaves trainer Brad Cox with two 2024 Kentucky Derby horses, but both are 2024 Kentucky Derby contenders. Catching Freedom won the Louisiana Derby and the Smarty Jones Stakes and will break from the No. 4 post on Saturday. Just a Touch is a son of Triple Crown winner Justify and is coming off a strong second-place run at the Blue Grass Stakes. Catching Freedom is priced at 8-1 in the 2024 Kentucky Derby odds, while Just a Touch is 10-1.
Fierceness is the 5-2 favorite among the Kentucky Derby 150 horses after his 13.5-length win at the Florida Derby and Sierra Leone is at 3-1 after leading all 2024 Kentucky Derby entries with 155 qualifying points. The 2024 Kentucky Derby post time is 6:57 p.m. ET. Before making any 2024 Kentucky Derby picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling enters the 2024 Kentucky Derby having nailed the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last six years, including an exacta in 2022 with Mo Donegal and Nest. He also called Flightline’s win at the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November of that year.
Demling is at his best in the biggest horse races in the world like the Kentucky Derby 2024. In fact, he has hit 10 of the last 15 Derby-Oaks doubles at Churchill Downs. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both races all but five times in the last 15 years. He’s also called 10 of the last 19 Preakness winners, including nailing his Preakness winner, exacta and superfecta picks in 2023, keenly understanding when the Kentucky Derby winner was poised for victory or a massive upset. Anyone who has followed him is up huge.
Now, with the 2024 Kentucky Derby odds already on the board, Demling is sharing his picks and 2024 Kentucky Derby predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2024 Kentucky Derby predictions
One of Demling’s surprising 2024 Kentucky Derby picks: He is fading Fierceness, even though he’s the top favorite and just won the Florida Derby. You always pay a heavy premium for potential in horse racing, which is why Fierceness is the 2024 Kentucky Derby favorite. He looked strong in his Breeders’ Cup Juvenile win at Santa Anita last year and enjoyed a wire-to-wire romp at the Florida Derby in March.
However, he sandwiched those performances around a disappointing third-place finish as the 1-5 favorite in the Holy Bull Stakes and was never a factor when he finished seventh at the Champagne Stakes a month before his breakthrough win at the Juvenile. This is a horse that prefers to go to the front and he’ll have to break cleanly to get there coming from the No. 16 post. See which other 2024 Kentucky Derby horses to avoid at SportsLine.
Another stunner: Demling is high on Dornoch, even though he’s a 20-1 longshot. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. After notching runners-up in his first two career starts, Dornoch went on a three-race winning streak that included a pair of Grade 2 victories. He won the Remsen Stakes on a muddy track as a juvenile before taking the Fountain of Youth Stakes on a fast track in his first start as a 3-year-old. He stumbled in his final start, finishing fourth, but his trainer utilized a different tactic for that race, one that he will seemingly abort for the Kentucky Derby 150.
That trainer, Danny Gargan, got his feet wet at the Kentucky Derby in 2019 with a gelding that finished 14th. However, jockey Luis Saez has more experience since he has already won the Belmont Stakes and crossed the 2019 Kentucky Derby finish line first with Maximum Security before the horse was disqualified. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2024 Kentucky Derby picks, bets
Demling is especially high on an epic double-digit longshot who “keeps getting better and better.” Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2024 Kentucky Derby leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Kentucky Derby 2024, and which double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2024 Kentucky Derby odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the expert who nailed 10 Derby-Oaks doubles.
