The 2025 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs is set to get underway on Saturday at 6:57 p.m. ET. Burnham Square led Kentucky Derby qualifying with 130 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby after winning three of his final four starts. Bunham Square is trained by Ian Wilkes, who’s still searching for his breakthrough in the Run for the Roses. According to the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds, Burnham Square is going off at 12-1. Journalism is the 3-1 morning-line favorite, followed by Sovereignty (5-1) and Sandman (6-1).
A $3.1 million payday awaits for whoever prevails on Saturday at Churchill Downs, and Rodriguez scratched on Thursday. He’ll be replaced in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field by Baeza (12-1). With so much to consider while making your 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, a little expert help can go a long way.
The 2025 Kentucky Derby will be the 151st Run for the Roses, and the large field generally lends itself to close racing. The three Kentucky Derby horses that have won by eight lengths or more in the history of the race (Old Rosebud, Johnstown, Whirlaway) all won before America entered World War II. More recently, Barbaro (2009) and Mine That Bird (2006) won by six lengths. Even Secretariat (1973) only won by 2.5 lengths despite running a 1:59.40 time, which is still a record today.
Given all the history, there’s a method to picking which horses to focus on for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets in a Kentucky Derby like this, and SportsLine expert Jody Demling knows what it is. He can help you make the best 2025 Kentucky Derby picks possible.
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 could be up huge at sites like FanDuel Racing, TwinSpires, and 1/ST BET.
Now, with the 2025 Kentucky Derby post positions set and odds on the board, Demling is sharing his picks and 2025 Kentucky Derby betting predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Kentucky Derby expert picks
Here’s a refresher on these types of bets from SportsLine’s Jody Demling:
Kentucky Derby Exacta: Pick the first- and second-place finishers in the correct order. A $2 exacta returned $258.56 at the 2024 Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan and Sierra Leone.
Kentucky Derby Trifecta: Pick the first-, second- and third-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 trifecta returned $1,113.84 at the 2024 Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone and Forever Young.
Kentucky Derby Superfecta: Pick the first-, second-, third- and fourth-place finishers in the correct order. A $1 superfecta returned a colossal $8,254 at the 2024 Kentucky Derby with Mystik Dan, Sierra Leone, Forever Young and Catching Freedom.
While Demling has no quibbles about the favorite status of Journalism (3-1), the Michael McCarthy-trained colt isn’t his top pick. Instead, he is building his tickets around Luxor Cafe (15-1) and an even bigger longshot who is “generating buzz on the backside,” spicing up his 2025 Kentucky Derby exotics. You can see his picks here.
How to make 2025 Kentucky Derby bets
Demling has specific recommendations for exacta, trifecta and superfecta wagers so you can cover all your bases at the Kentucky Derby 2025. He’s sharing them over at SportsLine.
So which horses do you take? And in what combinations? Visit SportsLine to get Demling’s picks for exacta, trifecta and superfecta bets for the 2025 Kentucky Derby.