How important is post position when picking the Kentucky Derby?
The 152nd Kentucky Derby goes on Saturday, May 2nd, from Churchill Downs, and if you are new or a casual fan, several factors will impact handicapping, including surface, track length, horse and trainer records, jockey records, and more.
The best horse doesn’t always win the Derby. That’s because the post position draw plays a huge role in success due to potential traffic issues, the banging of the horses coming out of the gate, and the demands of running 1 ¼ miles.
Inside horses often face early and mid-pack traffic with limited room to escape the traffic due to the field closing down towards the rail as the Derby proceeds.
Last year, Sovereignty came from the 18th post position to win the 151st Kentucky Derby.
In terms of coming out as the best position, 10 of the 96 horses that came from the No. 5 position went on to become champions. The most recent horse to come out of the No. 5 spot was Always Dreaming in 2017.
Since 1995, 16 of the 31 Kentucky Derby winners have broken from gate 13 or higher. From the 65 races that used a gate before 1995, just seven winners broke from gate 13 or higher.
The No. 5-15 spot gives the horses flexibility as they can go inside, swing wide or stay mid-pack. Many of the Derby winners come from this range.
Post 1 is one of the most difficult positions to win in this race. The last horse to win from Post 1 was Ferdinand in 1986. In fact, in the last 96 starts, there have been just eight wins from Post 1, seven wins from Post 2 (last winner in 1978) and six wins from Post 3 (last winner in 2024).
Starting too far outside creates a longer path to the inside of the track. In the last 132 starts, the No. 17-20 post positions have combined for six wins in 133 starts, which included last season’s win with Sovereignty in the 2025 Kentucky Derby. The winner was trained by Bill Mott, which was run on a sloppy track at 7-1 odds.
The post positions were held on Saturday.
2026 Kentucky Derby Post Positions, Horses, Trainers, Jockeys and Morning-Line Odds
| PP | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | ML Odds |
| 1 | Renegade | Todd Pletcher | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 4-1 |
| 2 | Albus | Riley Mott | Manny Franco | 30-1 |
| 3 | Intrepido | Jeff Mullins | Hector Berrios | 50-1 |
| 4 | Litmus Test | Bob Baffert | Martin Garcia | 30-1 |
| 5 | Right to Party | Kenny McPeek | Chris Elliott | 30-1 |
| 6 | Commandment | Brad Cox | Luis Saez | 6-1 |
| 7 | Danon Bourbon | Manabu Ikezoe | Atsuya Nishimura | 20-1 |
| 8 | So Happy | Mark Glatt | Mike Smith | 15-1 |
| 9 | The Puma | Gustavo Delgado | Javier Castellano | 10-1 |
| 10 | Wonder Dean | Daisuke Takayanagi | Ryusei Sakai | 30-1 |
| 11 | Incredibolt | Riley Mott | Jaime Torres | 20-1 |
| 12 | Chief Wallabee | Bill Mott | Junior Alvarado | 8-1 |
| 13 | Silent Tactic | Mark Casse | Cristian Torres | 20-1 |
| 14 | Potente | Bob Baffert | Juan Hernandez | 20-1 |
| 15 | Emerging Market | Chad Brown | Flavien Prat | 15-1 |
| 16 | Pavlovian | Doug O’Neill | Edwin Maldonado | 30-1 |
| 17 | Six Speed | Bhupat Seemar | Brian Hernandez Jr. | 50-1 |
| 18 | Further Ado | Brian Lynch | John Velazquez | 6-1 |
| 19 | Golden Tempo | Cherie DeVaux | Jose Ortiz | 30-1 |
| 20 | Fulleffort | Brad Cox | Tyler Gaffalione | 20-1 |
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