Forte, last year’s champion juvenile male and longtime Kentucky Derby (G1) favorite, has landed in post 15 for Saturday’s 149th Run for the Roses. Installed as the 3-1 choice on the morning line, the Todd Pletcher trainee tops a 23-strong field including three also-eligibles.
Stablemate Tapit Trice, who will break from post 5, rates as the second choice at 5-1. Angel of Empire, best-fancied of the Brad Cox squad at 8-1, drew post 14.
Top California contender Practical Move, and Japan’s leading hope Derma Sotogake, rank as the joint fourth picks at 10-1. Practical Move has post 10, while Derma Sotogake would be the first to win from post 17, aside from making history if he can become the first UAE Derby (G2) winner to follow up at Churchill Downs, and the first Japanese hero. Next at 12-1 come Two Phil’s (post 3) and Kingsbarns (post 6).
The three in need of help to get into the starting gate are, in order, Cyclone Mischief (30-1), Mandarin Hero (20-1), and King Russell (50-1). Any defections must occur by scratch time, 9 a.m. (ET) Friday, for an also-eligible to draw into the field at Churchill Downs.
The 1 1/4-mile first jewel of the Triple Crown will go off as the 12th race on Saturday at 6:57 p.m. (ET).
Here is the complete field for Derby 149:
| Post | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | ML Odds |
| 1 | Hit Show | Manny Franco | Brad Cox | 30-1 |
| 2 | Verifying | Tyler Gaffalione | Brad Cox | 15-1 |
| 3 | Two Phil’s | Jareth Loveberry | Larry Rivelli | 12-1 |
| 4 | Confidence Game | James Graham | Keith Desormeaux | 20-1 |
| 5 | Tapit Trice | Luis Saez | Todd Pletcher | 5-1 |
| 6 | Kingsbarns | Jose Ortiz | Todd Pletcher | 12-1 |
| 7 | Reincarnate | John Velazquez | Tim Yakteen | 50-1 |
| 8 | Mage | Javier Castellano | Gustavo Delgado | 15-1 |
| 9 | Skinner | Juan Hernandez | John Shirreffs | 20-1 |
| 10 | Practical Move | Ramon Vazquez | Tim Yakteen | SCR |
| 11 | Disarm | Joel Rosario | Steve Asmussen | 30-1 |
| 12 | Jace’s Road | Florent Geroux | Brad Cox | 50-1 |
| 13 | Sun Thunder | Brian Hernandez Jr. | Ken McPeek | 50-1 |
| 14 | Angel of Empire | Flavien Prat | Brad Cox | 8-1 |
| 15 | Forte | Irad Ortiz Jr. | Todd Pletcher | 3-1 |
| 16 | Raise Cain | Gerardo Corrales | Ben Colebrook | 50-1 |
| 17 | Derma Sotogake | Christophe Lemaire | Hidetaka Otonashi | 10-1 |
| 18 | Rocket Can | Junior Alvarado | Bill Mott | 30-1 |
| 19 | Lord Miles | Paco Lopez | Saffie Joseph Jr. | SCR |
| 20 | Continuar (JPN) | Ryusei Sakai | Yoshito Yahagi | SCR |
| 21 | Cyclone Mischief | Joel Rosario | Dale Romans | 30-1 |
| 22 | Mandarin Hero (JPN) | Kazushi Kimura | Terunobu Fujita | 20-1 |
| 23 | King Russell | Rafael Bejarano | Ron Moquett | 50-1 |
