Top 2025 Kentucky Derby contenders are already revealing themselves, with dozens of prep races having already been run on the Road to the Kentucky Derby 2025. The 151st Run for the Roses will be held on Saturday, May 3, at Churchill Downs and the 20-horse 2025 Kentucky Derby field is starting to take shape. A win at the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park gives Coal Battle 70 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby standings, making him a lock should trainer Lonnie Briley choose to run him at Churchill Downs.
The son of Coal Front out of Midshipman mare Wolfblade has five wins in seven career starts, but is still a 58-1 longshot in the 2025 Kentucky Derby odds. Meanwhile, Bob Baffert-trained Barnes is the 8-1 favorite in the 2025 Kentucky Derby futures, while his stablemate Citizen Bull is priced at 9-1. Before making any 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling has nailed the Kentucky Oaks-Derby double 11 times in the last 16 years. He also predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years and called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including in 2023, when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta, as well as the trifecta in 2024. Anyone who has followed him on those picks is up huge.
Now, with the 2025 Kentucky Derby futures already on the board, Demling is sharing his picks and 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions
One of Demling’s surprising 2025 Kentucky Derby picks: He is fading John Hancock, even though he is undefeated and coming off a win in the Sam F. Davis Stakes. The three-year-old colt made his debut at the MSW at Tampa Bay Downs on Jan. 8, where he won with a speed figure of 113, but that wasn’t enough to convince Demling he has the pedigree to win at Churchill Downs. The Sam F. Davis Stakes, while prestigious in its own right, has yet to produce a winner in the Run for the Roses.
With that being the case, Demling is backing other horses in his Kentucky Derby futures bets at this point. John Hancock isn’t as battle-tested as some of the other top contenders in the field, and Demling needs to see more from the Brad H. Cox-trained colt. “The Brad Cox-trained colt is 2-for-2 and won the Sam F. Davis Stakes in his last start,” Demling told SportsLine. “Solid, but still has a lot of room for improvement.” See which other 2025 Kentucky Derby horses to avoid at SportsLine.
Another stunner: Demling is high on Burnham Square, even though he is a 15-1 longshot in the latest Kentucky Derby odds 2025. The Ian R. Wilkes-trained colt broke his maiden in his third try at Gulfstream Park on Dec. 28 of his two-year-old season and then he announced himself as a Kentucky Derby 2025 contender with a win at the Holy Bull Stakes on Feb. 1.
He followed that up with a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Fountain of Youth Stakes on March 1, but he did collect 10 more points and currently sits 12th in the Road to the Kentucky Derby standings with 30 points overall. Wilkes is now likely to target the G1 Blue Grass Stakes on April 6 and if he can hit the board he’ll almost certainly qualify. Wilkes has a Breeders’ Cup Classic win with Fort Larned and was also Carl Nafzger’s top assistant when Street Sense won the 2007 Kentucky Derby. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.
How to make 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, bets
Demling is especially high on an epic double-digit longshot who has “lots and lots of potential.” Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Kentucky Derby leaderboard, over at SportsLine.
Which horse wins the Kentucky Derby 2025, and which double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the expert who has nailed 11 Derby-Oaks doubles.
