The Road to the Kentucky Derby is an eight-month journey from first prep race to post time. However, the 2025 Kentucky Derby will mark the end of that cycle for the 19 Kentucky Derby horses and their connections as well as the first step on the path to the Triple Crown. Post time is scheduled for 6:57 p.m. ET on Saturday at Churchill Downs and will be contested at 10 furlongs (1 1/4 miles). The 2025 Kentucky Derby post positions were drawn last Saturday and Santa Anita Derby winner Journalism is the 3-1 favorite in the 2025 Kentucky Derby odds after winning his last four starts.
Journalism is followed by Sovereignty (5-1) and Sandman (6-1) in the 2025 Kentucky Derby odds, but it has been five years since a winning ticket cashed with a payout of lower than 13-1. Before making any 2025 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 has nailed the Kentucky Oaks-Derby double 11 times in the last 16 years. He also predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years and called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including in 2023, when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta, as well as the trifecta in 2024. Anyone who has followed him 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, Demling is sharing his 2025 Kentucky Derby betting picks and 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions
One of Demling’s surprising 2025 Kentucky Derby picks: He is fading Sandman, even though he’s one of the top favorites at 6-1 and just won the Arkansas Derby. This three-year-old Mark Casse-trained colt and son of former Wood Memorial winner Tapit is coming off an impressive victory in the Arkansas Derby. In that race at Oaklawn Park, Sandman rallied from second-to-last in the field to win by 2.5 lengths.
The expert acknowledges Sandman’s potential and how he rallied late at Oaklawn when the rest of the field broke down. However, Demling also thinks Sandman swerved too much down the stretch and “looks too immature to win the Derby.” See which other 2025 Kentucky Derby horses to avoid at SportsLine.
Another stunner: Demling is high on Luxor Cafe, even though he is a 15-1 longshot in the Kentucky Derby odds 2025. Japanese horses have generally been unknowns at Churchill Downs, but Forever Young helped put the country’s burgeoning horse racing scene on the map when he finished two noses behind winner Mystik Dan in third during a three-way photo finish last year. Luxor Cafe enters the 2025 Kentucky Derby with more hype than any of Japan’s previous seven Kentucky Derby entrants.
Luxor Cafe was sired by American Pharoah, the only horse in history to capture the American grand slam in 2015 when he won all three Triple Crown races and the Breeders’ Cup Classic. When American Pharoah was retired to stud in 2016, his initial stud fee was $200,000 and owner Koichi Nishikawa had him shipped to Japan shortly after he was foaled in Kentucky. Jockey Joao Mereiro said Luxor Cafe had plenty left in the tank after his five-length win in the Fukuryu Stakes and also insisted the distance would be no problem. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, bets
Demling is especially high on a colossal double-digit longshot who is “generating buzz on the backside.” Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Kentucky Derby leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Kentucky Derby 2025, and which huge double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the expert who has nailed 11 Derby-Oaks doubles.
2025 Kentucky Derby odds, post positions
2025 Kentucky Derby horses, program numbers
1 Citizen Bull | 2 Neoequos | 3 Final Gambit | 5 American Promise | 6 Admire Daytona | 7 Luxor Cafe | 8 Journalism | 9 Burnham Square | 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