Kentucky Derby 2024 Contenders: Favorites and Lineup Odds After Post Positions Draw

The first Saturday in May is rapidly approaching, which means that the 150th Kentucky Derby is right around the corner.

While the post position draw is usually held on Monday ahead of the event, the 2024 draw was held a full week ahead on Saturday. The gate in which each horse starts has a large impact on the eventual champion, providing an immediate advantage or disadvantage before the race begins.

Gate No. 5 has seen 10 champions, the most of any gate. The most recent winner was Always Dreaming in 2017.

Gate No. 8 and gate No. 10 have produced the second-most winners, with nine champions emerging from each gate. This includes Mage, the 2023 Derby champion. The No. 17 gate is the only gate that has never seen a winner, with only three horses finishing in the money.

Florida Derby-winner Fierceness is the pre-race favorite to earn the Kentucky Derby title with 5-2 odds.

The 2024 Kentucky Derby will have a purse of $5 million, an all-time high after the previous purse of $3 million lasted from 2019 through 2023. The $5 million will be split, with $3.1 million going to the winner, $1 million for the runner-up, $500,000 for the third-place finisher, $250,000 for fourth place and $150,000 given to fifth place.

Here's a look at the results of the position draw as well as the odds for each horse.

Kentucky Derby Post Positions and Odds

1. Dornoch (20-1)
2. Sierra Leone (3-1)
3. Mystik Dan (20-1)
4. Catching Freedom (8-1)
5. Catalytic (30-1)
6. Just Steel (20-1)
7. Honor Marie (20-1)
8. Just a Touch (10-1)
9. Encino (20-1)
10.  T O Password (30-1) 
11. Forever Young (10-1)
12. Track Phantom (20-1)
13. West Saratoga (50-1)
14. Endlessly (30-1)
15. Domestic Product (30-1)
16. Grand Mo the First (50-1)
17. Fierceness (5-2)
18. Stronghold (20-1)
19. Resilience (20-1)
20. Society Man (50-1)

While Fierceness is the favorite, the No. 17 gate puts owner Mike Repole's horse in a tough position to win the race. However, Repole wasn't worried about the infamous history surrounding the gate.

"Let's be the first of many things," he said, per Jason Frakes of the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I've never been afraid to try to be the first in anything I've done in life. Why would a 17 post scare me, you know?"

Sierra Leone has the second-best odds at 3-1, while Catching Freedom owns the third-best odds at 8-1. Sierra Leone will start in gate No. 2, as Catching Freedom will be in gate No. 4.

The main event at the 2024 Derby will occur on May 4, at 6:57 p.m. ET.