LOUISVILLE, Ky.– Fate has actually not respected Mike Repole in the Kentucky Derby. The outspoken owner is 0 for 7, although he is possibly best understood for his 2 champs that never ever made the beginning gate.

In 2011, Uncle Mo was scratched the day before the race because of an intestinal infection. In 2015, Forte was scratched the early morning of the race due to a bruised right front foot.

Now, the self-made billionaire from Queens, New York City, is back with Fierceness, the morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 150th Derby. The bay colt was in 2015’s 2-year-old champ and is coming off a 13 1/2- length win in the Florida Derby.

Fierceness will need to conquer a little bit of Derby history: No horse has actually ever triumphed of the No. 17 post.

” The horse is simply a various kind. He does whatever so simple, so calm, so cool,” stated Repole, understood for his high energy and utilizing his account on X as an incubator for racing reform and difficult critics. “A horse like this soothes me down.”

A sharp-dressed crowd of about 150,000 is anticipated to jam Churchill Downs to bet and view the 1 1/4- mile Derby. Post time is 6:57 p.m. EDT. The projection requires 79 degrees (26 Celsius) and a 40% opportunity of showers.

Fierceness is trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, who have actually won a combined 5 derbies.

” I hope it does not take as long as it took the Cubs to win the World Series,” Repole stated of his efforts to bag one.

Like Repole, fitness instructor Chad Brown is 0 for 7. He will saddle early 3-1 2nd option Sierra Leone, who is called a more detailed, and long shot Domestic Item. Sierra Leone is the most expensive horse in the field, having expense $2.3 million.

Derby 150 competitor, Sierra Leone throughout an early morning exercise at Churchill Downs. Jockey Tyler Gafflione will ride him in Derby 150. (Spectrum News 1/Mason Brighton)

Besides Brown, fitness instructors Brad Cox and Danny Gargan have 2 entries each.

Louisville-born Cox won his very first Derby belatedly when Mandaloun rose to top place after Medina Spirit’s disqualification 9 months after the 2021 race. Now he has early 8-1 3rd option Capturing Flexibility and 10-1 co-fourth option Simply a Touch, who didn’t race at age 2 like his sire, 2018 Triple Crown winner Justify

Gargan’s long-shot duo is Dornach and Society Male. Front-running Dornach breaks from the No. 1 post for co-owner and retired Philadelphia Phillies star Jayson Werth

” Ideally he’ll break running and we’ll put him on the front end and see how it goes,” Gargan stated. “We intended on keeping his face tidy. Now we’ll keep it genuine tidy.”

Society Male is ridden by Frankie Dettori, who is back in the Derby at age 53 after 24 years.

Larry Demeritte is simply the 2nd Black fitness instructor because 1951 to try winning the Derby. The 74-year-old who has actually combated cancer for a number of years will saddle the star of his 11-horse steady, West Saratoga, a colt that cost $11,000.

” My slogan is, ‘I do not purchase inexpensive horses, I purchase great horses inexpensive,'” he stated.

Japan is represented by early 10-1 shot Permanently Young (winner of 5 straight starts) and 30-1 shot T O Password. No horse from that nation has actually ever won the Derby.

A year back, 2 horses passed away on Derby day at Churchill Downs, where an overall of 12 horses passed away in the weeks surrounding the race. The historical track has actually deepened its dirt racing surface area and added to its safety protocols in an effort to avoid more disaster.

Last May, Churchill Downs suspended fitness instructor Saffie Joseph Jr after 2 of his horses passed away and it scratched his Derby horse, Lord Miles. He is back today with Catalytic.

Six-time Derby winner Bob Baffert is not. The fitness instructor had his two-year suspension for Medina Spirit’s stopped working drug test in 2021 reached a 3rd year by Churchill Downs in spite of not having any more medication infractions.

Four-time winner D. Wayne Lukas saddled long shot Simply Steel, ridden by Keith Asmussen, the kid of fitness instructor Steve Asmussen. The senior Asmussen went into Track Phantom in an effort to stop his 0 for 25 skid in the Derby.