Post Position Draws Kentucky Derby - Best and Worst - Latest Odds
This year's Kentucky Derby post position draw took place on Saturday April 26. Traditionally, the post position draw takes place the Tuesday before the big race. The rationale is that Churchill Downs officials wanted to provide ample enough time for media outlets like Gambling911.com to mull over the gate positions as they have proven critical in handicapping the Kentucky Derby. Below we look over each post position and which has the best advantage and least advantage based on recent and historic wins. All odds courtesy of BetPhoenix, which offers an industry-best 15% weekly horse rebate.
2025 Kentucky Derby Post Position Draw
| Kentucky Derby 2025 | Trainer | Jockey | Odds* |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Citizen Bull | Bob Baffert | Martin Garcia | 20-1 |
| 2. Neoequos | Saffie Joseph Jr. | Flavien Prat** | 30-1 |
| 3. Final Gambit | Brad Cox | Luan Machado | 30-1 |
| 4. Rodríguez | Bob Baffert | Mike Smith | 12-1 |
| 5. American Promise | D. Wayne Lukas | Nik Juárez | 30-1 |
| 6. Admire Daytona | Yukihiro Kato | Christophe Lemaire | 30-1 |
| 7. Luxor Café | Noriyuki Hori | João Moreira | 15-1 |
| 8. Journalism | Michael McCarthy | Umberto Rispoli | 3-1 |
| 9. Burnham Square | Ian Wilkes | Brian Hernandez Jr. | 12-1 |
| 10. Grande | Todd Pletcher | John Velázquez | 20-1 |
| 11. Flying Mohawk | Whit Beckman | Joe Ramos | 30-1 |
| 12. East Avenue | Brendan Walsh | Manny Franco | 20-1 |
| 13. Publisher | Steve Asmussen | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 20-1 |
| 14. Tiztastic | Steve Asmussen | Joel Rosario | 20-1 |
| 15. Render Judgment | Kenny McPeek | Julien Leparoux | 30-1 |
| 16. Coal Battle | Lonnie Briley | Juan Vargas | 30-1 |
| 17. Sandman | Mark Casse | Jose Ortiz | 6-1 |
| 18. Sovereignty | Bill Mott | Júnior Alvarado | 5-1 |
| 19. Chunk of Gold | Ethan West | Jareth Loveberry | 30-1 |
| 20. Owen Almighty | Brian Lynch | Javier Castellano | 30-1 |
| 21. Baeza - ae | John Shirreffs | Flavien Prat | 12-1 |
Best Post Positions
Post Position 5: The post position that has produced the most winners in the Kentucky Derby. A total of ten horses have won from this position. American Promise is set to start from the No. 5 spot with 10-1 odds.
Post No. 10: 9 winners, with a higher winning percentage than Post No. 5. Grande comes in at 17-1 odds..
Post No. 8: 9 winners, including Mage in 2023. Journalism starts here and is the early favorite to win.
Post Position 20: Post No. 20 has the highest winning percentage—11.1%— but we must consider the smaller sample size, with only 18 starters. Big Brown won in 2008 and Rich Strike did so in 2022.
Worst Post Positions
Post Position 1: Citizen Bull gets the outside post (No. 1). He will need to navigate a tight and crowded field.
The last horse to win the Kentucky Derby from post position No. 1 was Ferdinand in 1986.
Post Position 17: The post position that has never produced a winner in the Kentucky Derby is post position 17. Sorry Sandman. It's possible that scratches could result in a different horse starting from this position.
Post Position 6: Despite being used 94 times, this position has produced only two winners, Sea Hero in 1993 and another in 1957. This does not bode well for Admire Daytona, who already comes into this year's race with long 34-1 odds.
Post Position 14: This position has produced only two winners since 1930, with the most recent being Carry Back in 1961. Tiztastic starts here at 19-1 odds.
Post Position 19: With only one winner, I'll Have Another in 2012, this position has a win percentage of 4.2%. Chunk of Gold starts here and is tied with Admire Daytona for the longest odds at 34-1.
2025 Kentucky Derby Early Odds
Rot To Win The Kentucky Derby 2025 Moneyline
1 Citizen Bull +1400
3 Sandman +800
4 Journalism +325
17 Rodriguez +1200
28 East Avenue +2400
29 Burnham Square +1450
30 Sovereignty +600
32 Coal Battle +2100
34 Owen Almighty +4000
45 Tiztastic +1900
52 Luxor Cafe +950
58 Grande +1700
60 Final Gambit -1900
63 American Promise +1000
64 Flying Mohawk +5000
65 Neoequos +6000
66 Publisher +2900
67 Chunk Of Gold +3400
68 Admire Daytona +3400
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