2026 Kentucky Derby Runners - Full Field and Draw for Churchill Downs

Conrad Castleton

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Last updated: Sat 02 May 2026 13:41

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Conrad Castleton 02 May 2026

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Renegade leads betting for the 2026 Kentucky Derby, facing a tough draw in stall one
Commandment and Albus are among key challengers, with favourable starting positions
Post statistics favour contenders with wider draws, such as Emerging Market and Further Ado

The field breaks from the gate at the start of the Kentucky Derby. (Getty)

Renegade tops the betting heading into Saturday's Kentucky Derby. Todd Pletcher's star was hugely impressive when winning the Arkansas Derby, but faces a potentially tricky draw down in stall one - a gate that hasn't produced a Kentucky Derby winner since 1986.

Fellow market leader Commandment fared better in the draw and will spring from stall six. Runaway Wood Memorial winner, Albus will be one of the first Derby runners for young trainer Riley Mott, and Manny Franco's mount has been drawn low in stall two.

Japan's leading hope, Danon Bourbon is one gate further out in stall seven, with his countryman and UAE Derby winner Wonder Dean in stall ten. Other fancied horses, So Happy and The Puma sit between the two Japanese raiders in gates eight and nine.

Nine of the last 15 Kentucky Derby winners have broken from post 13 or wider. That statistic will give hope to the likes of Emerging Market and Further Ado, who were placed in stalls 15 and 18 respectively.

Chief Wallabee will spring from stall 12, with Silent Tactic and Potente on his immediate outside. Intrepido, Litmus Test and Right To Party landed single-figure draws, with Pavlovian, Six Speed, Golden Tempo and Fulleffort out wide. Incredibolt landed a central draw in gate 11.

Four reserves have also been selected for the 2026 Kentucky Derby. John Ennis' Great White will be the first to make the field if any of the 20 drop out. Ocelli, Robusta and Corono De Oro could also make the final field.

2026 Kentucky Derby Field

Draw	Name	Trainer	Jockey
1	Renegade	Todd Pletcher	Irad Ortiz Jr
2	Albus	Riley Mott	Manuel Franco
3	Intrepido	Jeff Mullins	Hector Berrios
4	Litmus Test	Bob Baffert	Martin Garcia
5	Right To Party (SCRATCHED)	Kenneth McPeek	Christopher Elliott
6	Commandment	Brad Cox	Luis Saez
7	Danon Bourbon	Manabu Ikezoe	Atsuya Nishimura
8	So Happy	Mark Glatt	Mike Smith
9	The Puma (SCRATCHED)	Gustavo Delgado	Javier Castellano
10	Wonder Dean	Daisuke Takayanagi	Ryusei Sakai
11	Incredibolt	Riley Mott	Jaime A Torres
12	Chief Wallabee	William Mott	Junior Alvarado
13	Silent Tactic (SCRATCHED)	Mark Casse	Cristian A Torres
14	Potente	Bob Baffert	Juan Hernandez
15	Emerging Market	Chad Brown	Flavien Prat
16	Pavlovian	Doug O'Neill	Edwin A Maldonado
17	Six Speed	Bhupat Seemar	Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr
18	Further Ado	Brad Cox	John Velazquez
19	Golden Tempo	Cherie DeVaux	Jose L Ortiz
20	Fulleffort (SCRATCHED)	Brad Cox	Tyler Gaffalione
	Reserves
21	Great White	John Ennis	Alexis Achard
22	Ocelli	D Whitworth Beckman	Joseph Ramos
23	Robusta	Doug O'Neill	Emisael Jaramillo
24	Corona De Oro	Dallas Stewart	Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr