Kentucky Derby Field 2024: Pinpointing Contenders from All Horses and Jockeys

A strong case could be made for four horses to win the 150th Kentucky Derby.

Three American-bred horses and one foreign entrant dominated the buildup to the first leg of the Triple Crown.

No one would be stunned if you selected Sierra Leone, Catching Freedom, Forever Young or Fierceness as your Derby pick.

All of those horses looked better than the rest of the field in recent races and that could lead to one of the favorites landing in the winners' circle on Saturday evening.

Kentucky Derby Post Positions and Odds

Sierra Leone

Sierra Leone won his two races in 2024.

The horse starting in Post No. 2 captured first at the Risen Star Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes in February and April.

Both fields featured multiple Kentucky Derby entrants, so the level of competition should not be an issue for Sierra Leone.

Sierra Leone will likely compete with Catching Freedom for a majority of the race because they are the two best horses starting on the inside.

The team behind Sierra Leone is looking for its first Kentucky Derby triumph. Trainer Chad Brown has two Preakness Stakes wins and jockey Tyler Gaffalione is a one-time Preakness champion.

Catching Freedom

Catching Freedom followed up a third-place finish to Sierra Leone at the Risen Star Stakes with a victory at the Louisiana Derby.

He landed inside the top three in each of his three races in 2024, so the expectation is for the horse to finish in a high position at Churchill Downs.

The competition between Catching Freedom and Sierra Leone could fierce from the start. They could either get out the fastest among the horses on the inside, or jockey for position behind a pacemaker.

Catching Freedom does have Derby-winning experience on his side. Jockey Flavien Prat took longshot Country House to the winners' circle in 2019. Trainer Brad Cox won with Mandaloun in 2021 after Medina Spirit's disqualification.

Forever Young

Forever Young dominated the overseas circuit.

The Japanese-bred horse captured the UAE Derby and Saudi Derby titles before coming over to the United States to train for the Kentucky Derby.

History is not on Forever Young's side, as a foreign horse has not won the first leg of the Triple Crown in 40 years.

A year ago, Derma Sotogake entered the Derby with similar odds as Forever Young and finished in sixth place.

A better performance than that is the minimum expectation for Forever Young on Saturday.

Fierceness

Fierceness has the most Derby-winning experience on his side.

Jockey John Velazquez is a three-time Derby winner and trainer Todd Pletcher landed in the winners' circle on two occasions.

Velazquez guided Fierceness to wins at the Florida Derby in March and the Breeders Cup Juvenile last November.

Fierceness' two wins in the two most prestigious events he entered in could make him the favorite in the eyes of many.

All of the experience around him should help with preparations on Saturday, but the race still has to be run, so we can't crown Fierceness or any of the other three favorites the winner just yet.