No clear favorite and plenty of contenders: The 152nd Kentucky Derby is a 20-horse puzzle

by | May 1, 2026 | Sports

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The chaos at the start of the Kentucky Derby sometimes decides the most exciting two minutes in sports in a matter of seconds. Twenty horses bursting out of the starting gate to varying degrees of success makes it a mad dash to the turn.Calling the race on television for NBC, Larry Collmus typically focuses on the favorite. This year presents a challenge.“I don’t know who the favorite is going to be,” Collmus said. “I guess we’ll find out. It’s wide open this year.”Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade opened as the favorite, but it could just as easily be Brad Cox’s Commandment or Further Ado or Bill Mott’s Chief Wallabee by the time the field of 20 leaves the gate. The first leg of the Triple Crown is so wide open that at least a half-dozen horses have a legitimate chance to win the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby on Saturday.“There’s a lot of different ways you could go if you were handicapping this race,” said Chad Brown, the trainer of Emerging Market. “You could really make an argument at this point for maybe half the horses in the field if they ran their very, very best race and had a good trip that could win this race.”Renegade was set as the 4-1 fav …

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