Updated Kentucky Derby odds: Irish War Cry 5-1, Always Dreaming 9-2
Always Dreaming gallops at Churchill Downs. Photo by Coady Photography.
by Frank Vespe
The rains came. And came. And came.
Friday’s Kentucky Oaks day card at Churchill Downs was contested over a sloppy, sealed main track and a turf course listed as good.
Saturday looks like more of the same.
The weather forecast for Louisville, as of 7:30 Saturday morning, calls for cool temperatures with a high in the low 60s and rain showers during the day. Chance of rain: 100 percent.
Are bettors already figuring that into their wagering? Hard to know — but if early wagering is an indicator, the final line may not look much like the morning line did.
While linemaker Mike Battaglia installed two-year-old champ Classic Empire as tepid 4-1 morning line favorite, bettors have thus far been decidedly cool to that horse. He was 7-1 in wagering as of 7:30 Saturday morning.
The favorite, at 9-2, was Always Dreaming, whom Battaglia had installed as the 5-1 co-second choice. Irish War Cry, 6-1 on the morning line, was 5-1 in early wagering. And McCraken, like Always Dreaming 5-1 on the morning line, had drifted up slightly to 6-1.
Irish War Cry, bred in New Jersey, is one of two Midlantic-breds in the field. The other, Pennsylvania-bred Fast and Accurate, was 33-1 in early action, down from a morning line of 50-1.
The biggest mover in the early wagering was Gunnevera, bet down to 9-1 off a 15-1 morning line. Full updated odds are below.
Handicapping help:
KENTUCKY DERBY POST POSITIONS AND ODDS
- Lookin at Lee — 25-1
- Thunder Snow — 17-1
- Fast and Accurate — 33-1
- Untrapped — 59-1
- Always Dreaming — 9-2
- State of Honor — 47-1
- Girvin — 21-1
- Hence — 17-1
- Irap — 36-1
- Gunnevera — 9-1
- Battle of Midway — 39-1
- Sonneteer — 36-1
- J Boys Echo — 43-1
- Classic Empire — 7-1
- McCraken — 6-1
- Tapwrit — 29-1
- Irish War Cry — 5-1
- Gormley — 24-1
- Practical Joke — 32-1
- Patch — 13-1
