LOUISVILLE, Ky. — So much for being Kentucky Derby favorites: One is stuck on the rail and the other ended up on the far outside of a 20-horse field.
Lookin At Lucky is looking like anything but.
“I heard about a redraw,” joked Bob Baffert, who trains the 3-year-old colt, listed at 3-1 odds during Wednesday’s post-position draw. “Is he still the favorite? We got that going for us. We just have to hope our horse runs huge.”
He’ll need to. All the traffic charging into the first turn tends to jam the inside unless a horse has early speed to get away quickly.
“There’s no use in crying about it,” co-owner Mike Pegram said. “It’s better to have a good trip than a good post position.”
Sidney’s Candy, the 5-1 second choice for Saturday’s 1 1/4-mile race, didn’t fare any better at the opposite end of the starting gate — No. 20 — and will be taking the widest trip around Churchill Downs.
Still, jockey Joe Talamo wasn’t deterred.
“Glad to be on the outside!!” he tweeted from California.
By compromising the two favorites, the Derby becomes a wide-open race a year after 50-1 shot Mine That Bird pulled off a last-to-first stunner under a rail-hugging ride by Calvin Borel.
The entire field will have to overcome a dismal forecast that calls for a 60 percent chance of rain, with accumulations of up to 2 inches.
Last year’s 2-year-old champion, Lookin At Lucky got banged up while winning his season debut in the Rebel Stakes but rallied to finish third in the Santa Anita Derby after being squeezed along the rail and losing all momentum.
“I just don’t remember a horse of this caliber being in the one hole since I’ve come here,” said Baffert, a three- time Derby winner. “I’d rather be outside, less things going on. You can get caught down there and hit the brakes.”
Twelve Derby winners have come from the No. 1 spot — Ferdinand was the last in 1986. He got pinched along the inside in the calvary charge to the first turn and dropped to last in the 16-horse field before rallying to win by 2 1/4 lengths under Hall of Famer Bill Shoemaker.
“About a third of the field is lost in the first turn, that’s why post position is so important,” Baffert said before the draw.
Only two winners have come from No. 20; the last was Big Brown in 2008.
“Not the best of draws. At least you’re on the outside and can see what’s going on,” trainer John Sadler said.
