Reddam Racing’s champion 2-year-old of 2015, Nyquist, has been installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite for Saturday’s 142nd running of the $2,391,600 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) at Churchill Downs.

Trained by Doug O’Neill, Nyquist is undefeated in seven starts with four victories coming in Grade I races and two others in Grade II events.

Ridden by Mario Gutierrez who has handled the colt in all of his starts, Nyquist enters the Derby off a 3 ¼-length victory in the Florida Derby (GI). Nyquist capped off his 2015 campaign with a triumph in the Sentient Jet Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (GI) at Keeneland.

A victory by Nyquist would give the human combination of Paul Reddam, O’Neill and Gutierrez a second Derby trophy to go with the one earned by I’ll Have Another in 2012.

Nyquist will break from post position 13.

Five other Grade I winners are in the field that also features five more Grade II winners and four Grade III winners.

Post Position : Horse : Jockey : Mike Battaglia’s Morning Line Odds

1. Trojan Nation Aaron Gryder 50-1

2. Suddenbreakingnews Luis Quinonez 20-1

3. Creator Ricardo Santana Jr. 10-1

4. Mo Tom Corey Lanerie 20-1

5. Gun Runner Florent Geroux 10-1

6. My Man Sam Irad Ortiz Jr. 20-1

7. Oscar Nominated Julien Leparoux 50-1

8. Lani Yutaka Take 30-1

9. Destin Javier Castellano 15-1

10. Whitmore Victor Espinoza 20-1

11. Exaggerator Kent Desormeaux 8-1

12. Tom’s Ready Brian Hernandez Jr. 30-1

13. Nyquist Mario Gutierrez 3-1

14. Mohaymen Junior Alvarado 10-1

15. Outwork John Velazquez 15-1

16. Shagaf Joel Rosario 20-1

17. Mor Spirit Gary Stevens 12-1

18. Majesto Emisael Jaramillo 30-1

19. Brody’s Cause Luis Saez 12-1

20. Danzing Candy Mike Smith 15-1

AE-21. Laoban Cornelio Velasquez 50-1

AE-22. Cherry Wine Robby Albarado 30-1

KENTUCKY DERBY 142 POST POSITION DRAW QUOTES
Trojan Nation (Post position 1, morning line 50-1) – Paddy Gallagher (trainer) – “We’re in! He’s got no (early) speed. We’re fine there.”

Suddenbreakingnews (Post position 2, morning line 20-1) – Donnie Von Hemel (trainer) – “It's good with us. He's surrounded by horses with similar running styles and shouldn't get shuffled back. He should be able to get comfortable from there."

Creator (Post position 3, morning line 10-1)/Gun Runner (Post position 5, morning line 10-1) – Steve Asmussen (trainer) – “Creator, he's kind of out the back early. He won't have a long ways to go left to find the fence early. (Gun Runner) "It's looks like all the pace is to the outside. Hopefully, prerace, everything goes smoothly. Hopefully, he stands up in the gates. Hopefully, he's away from there really good. But, we're very anxious right now with a very good horse going into the Derby. He's a tremendous horse. You want a good trip to show who he is.''

Mo Tom (Post position 4, morning line 20-1) – Tom Amoss (trainer) – “I think the two most significant things about the draw are we drew toward the rail but not so close that it's a problem, and that there's a lot of speed way on the outside in this post-position draw. Those horses are going to have to be used out of the starting gate, and that I think will ensure a good pace, which is what we need.''

My Man Sam (Post position 6, morning line 20-1)/Shagaf (Post position 16, morning line 20-1) – Chad Brown (trainer) – “I’m fine with both posts. I was looking for an inside post with My Man Sam so six will work just fine and we were looking for something on the outside with Shagaf with as big as he is so he’ll stay out of trouble. Sixteen will work just fine. So now it’s just up to the horses and the jockeys.”

Oscar Nominated (Post position 7, morning line 50-1) – Mike Maker (trainer) – “I’m pleased, obviously. It’s better than the one-hole that we drew a couple of years ago. No complaints.”

Lani (Post position 8, morning line 30-1) – Mikio Matsunaga (trainer) – “It was a good draw, ideal. The middle was ideal so I have no complaints about drawing number eight.”

Destin (Post position 9, morning line 15-1)/Outwork (Post position 15, morning line 15-1) – Todd Pletcher (trainer) – “I’m good with them. We like the 15 for Outwork. It gives us some room inside between the gates. And I’m OK with the nine for Destin. The only thing that concerns me is the horse inside Destin (Lani, the Japanese representative). I have some concern about that horse acting up. But the posts themselves are fine.”

Whitmore (Post position 10, morning line 20-1) – Ron Moquett (trainer) – “We're tickled with it. All we've been wanting is a good post and a good trip. Last year, we didn't get a good post and I don't know if it would have changed anything, but this year we have a better post and a better horse."

Exaggerator (Post position 11, morning line 8-1) – Keith Desormeaux (trainer) – “I’m fine with it. Kent (Desormeaux, his brother and his rider) seems a bit concerned because he’ll have to wait some after they load. But I don’t see a problem. The horse is as cool as a cucumber. It’ll be fine.”

Tom’s Ready (Post position 12, morning line 30-1) – Dallas Stewart (trainer) – “Great draw. Great field. We're ready to go. The Bensons are ready to go. We're ready to roll.''

Nyquist (Post position 13, morning line 3-1) – Doug O’Neill (trainer) – “We like it. We see a good sign. We were post No. 13 when we won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.”

Mohaymen (Post position 14, morning line 10-1) – Kiaran McLaughlin (trainer) – “We’re happy. He’ll be the last one in the main gate, so it’s great. There’s a little space between the two gates. There are a lot worse posts, so we’re happy.”

Mor Spirit (Post position 17, morning line 12-1) – Gary Stevens (jockey) – “I’m happy with it.”

Majesto (Post position 18, morning line 30-1) – Gustavo Delgado (trainer) – “I’d prefer a little more inside, but I cannot change it. But remember he’s a strong horse.”

Brody’s Cause (Post position 19, morning line 12-1) – Dale Romans (trainer) – “At first, I was a little bit disappointed, but after looking at the draw with the speed (Danzing Candy) outside of us, we’ll let him clear. I think it’s going to be all right.”

Danzing Candy (Post position 20, morning line 15-1) – Cliff Sise (trainer) – “At first you're kind of stunned when they say 20, but when you start thinking about it, it's not that bad. It's better than the one-hole, especially for a speed horse -- he can come over very gradually and he won't sit in the gate long. Actually, it might be in our favor. We're outside of any other speed horse, so we'll take it.” 

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