Post Positions, Morning Line Odds, And The Top-Favorite Switcheroo Of Zandon Over Epicenter

Very few pre-race events in racing are more fraught, funny or more hotly-awaited by a super-jittery crowd of owners, trainers, pundits and jockeys than the post position draw at Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby. The May 2 draw for the 2022 Kentucky Derby on May 7 lived up to the billing. There was a distinct murmur in the room as Epicenter drew the three hole, way to the inside, and arguably six to eight post positions further in than his owners, trainer or jockey would have liked. But the big surprise — to Epicenter’s connections and to many hundreds of the nation’s best racing pundits — was delivered by no less a figure than Churchill’s oddsmaker Mike Battaglia, who has fashioned the morning line for a record forty-eight runnings of the race. And Mr. Battaglia delivered a superb, tight, up-to-the minute switcheroo: crowning Zandon at a flat 3-1 in the morning line, thereby slipping the “long-presumed” favorite Epicenter down just a hair, at 7-2.

It was an eensy-weensy mathematical distinction, that one-half of a point, and one likely to be very hard-fought on the seesaw once the money starts to talk as the Churchill windows open on May 6. But it was a monumental call, reportedly based on the last few weeks of training. Zandon drew post position number 10, right in the middle of the gated, a stall with which his team was reportedly very happy.

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But before we get into parsing the field in view of their stalls in Churchill’s new-ish three-year-old twenty-horse gate, herewith, a full list of post positions and their Mr.- Mike-Battaglia morning line assessments.

(Post Position, Horse, Trainer, Jockey, Morning Line)

1. Mo Donegal, Todd Pletcher, Irad Ortiz Jr., 10-1

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2. Happy Jack, Doug O’Neill, Rafael Bejarano, 30-1

3. Epicenter, Steve Asmussen, Joel Rosario, 7-2

4. Summer Is Tomorrow, Bhupat Seemar, Mickael Barzalona, 30-1

5. Smile Happy, Kenny McPeek, Corey Lanerie, 20-1

6. Messier, Tim Yakteen, John Velazquez, 8-1

7. Crown Pride, Koichi Shintani, Christophe Lemaire, 20-1

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8. Charge It, Todd Pletcher, Luis Saez, 20-1

9. Tiz the Bomb, Kenny McPeek, Brian Hernandez Jr., 30-1

10. Zandon, Chad Brown, Flavien Prat, 3-1

11. Pioneer of Medina, Todd Pletcher, Joe Bravo, 30-1

12. Taiba, Tim Yakteen, Mike Smith, 12-1

13. Simplification, Antonio Sano, Jose Ortiz, 20-1

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14. Barber Road, John Ortiz, Reylu Gutierrez, 30-1

15. White Abarrio, Saffie Joseph Jr., Tyler Gaffalione, 10-1

16. Cyberknife, Brad Cox, Florent Geroux, 20-1

17. Classic Causeway, Brian Lynch, Julien Leparoux, 30-1

18. Tawny Port, Brad Cox, Ricardo Santana Jr., 30-1

19. Zozos, Brad Cox, Manny Franco, 20-1

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20. Ethereal Road, D. Wayne Lukas, Luis Contreras, 30-1

(Source: Churchill Downs, May 2, 2022)