Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher will try for another win at Churchill Downs when the 2025 Kentucky Derby gets underway on Saturday. Pletcher is a two-time Derby winner, having horses win the Run of the Roses in 2010 and 2016. He appeared close to capturing his third Kentucky Derby victory in 2023 with Forte being the heavy favorite, but the horse was scratched from the field on Derby Day. Only two other Kentucky Derby trainers in history have won three times, and Pletcher will get another shot at joining that club with one horse in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field.
Grande, a Pletcher-trained horse and the winner of two of his last three starts, is a 20-1 longshot in the 2025 Kentucky Derby odds. Journalism is the 3-1 favorite among the 2025 Kentucky Derby horses, followed by Sovereignty (5-1) and Sandman (6-1). 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 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 Rodriguez (12-1), who barely cracks the top 10 finishers in his 2025 Kentucky Derby projections. Rodriguez proved himself a legitimate contender with an emphatic 3 1/2-length victory in the nine-furlong Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.
However, that doesn’t erase concerns over his relatively poor run at the San Felipe Stakes in March. In that race, he finished a distant third behind 2025 Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism. Seeing Rodriguez fade out of the picture as Journalism built speed as the winner is a difficult image to unsee, and Demling doesn’t believe Rodriguez can keep up with his preferred 2025 Kentucky Derby horses. There are too many concerns for a horse priced at 12-1, which is why Demling is looking elsewhere when it comes to Kentucky Derby 2025 bets. 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. Luxor Cafe won the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, clinching his spot in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field with a smashing win in the Fukuryu Stakes in late March. He brings a four-race winning streak to Churchill Downs, including a pair of wins over UAE Derby winner Admire Daytona.
Luxor Cafe was sired by American Pharoah, who won the 2015 Triple Crown and was named the Horse of the Year. American Pharoah’s offspring have yet to make an impact in the Triple Crown, but that could change with Luxor Cafe. Demling says Luxor Cafe’s resume looks particularly impressive following Admire Daytona’s UAE Derby victory, which is not being properly accounted for in the 2025 Kentucky Derby betting odds. 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
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