The “most exciting two minutes in sports” is back, with the 2022 Kentucky Derby set to get underway at Churchill Downs on Saturday. Veteran jockey Mike Smith will make his 28th Kentucky Derby appearance and try to set the record for the oldest Kentucky Derby winning jockey at 56. Smith has two impressive Kentucky Derby victories under his belt, winning with 50-1 long shot Giacomo in 2005 and with the favored Justify in 2018. Smith went on to win the Triple Crown in 2018 aboard Justify and will try to do the same from the 2022 Kentucky Derby field aboard Taiba. Zandon is the favorite in the 2022 Kentucky Derby odds at 3-1, with Epicenter (7-2), Messier (8-1) and Mo Donegal (10-1) coming in as other 2022 Kentucky Derby contenders. The 2022 Kentucky Derby post time is 6:57 p.m. ET. With so much to consider, you’ll want to see what SportsLine’s Jody Demling has to say before entering any 2022 Kentucky Derby picks or horse racing predictions of your own.
A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling has been on-point with his horse racing bets. He hit the exacta in the Wood Memorial in April. Last year, he hit the exacta, trifecta and superfecta in the Belmont Stakes. This is the same handicapper who hit the Derby-Oaks double at Churchill Downs nine times in the last 13 years. That means he held a ticket with the winners of both the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby all but four times in his last 13 tries.
In addition, at one point in 2020, he picked the winners of six straight races: the Saudi Cup, Gotham Stakes, Rebel Stakes, Louisiana Derby, Florida Derby, and Belmont Stakes. Anyone who has followed him on these races is way up.
Now, with the 2022 Kentucky Derby lineup locked in, Demling is sharing his picks and predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.
Top 2022 Kentucky Derby predictions
One of Demling’s surprising 2022 Kentucky Derby picks: He is fading Epicenter, saying one of the top favorites barely even cracks the top three. Epicenter will line up in the third position, which hasn’t been a favorable spot for Kentucky Derby horses in recent memory and produced just five champions over the last 92 years.
Epicenter has only started within the first three posts in two previous races, the first of which was December 26 at the Gun Runner Stakes, where he stayed within the first three horses through the final straightaway and pulled away for the win. However, when he started in the second post in his first maiden special weight run, he fell behind after the half-mile mark and finished in sixth. In both races, he started behind the first horses out of the break, which could be a critical issue on Saturday if he does so again in a congested 20-horse 2022 Kentucky Derby field.
Another stunner: Demling is high on Mo Donegal, even though he’s a double-digit long shot and will race from the inside post. Horses that have won in their final Kentucky Derby prep race have historically enjoyed success at Churchill Downs, as nine of the last 11 Kentucky Derby winners entered off a victory. Mo Donegal is fresh off a victory in the Wood Memorial.
Mo Donegal has already proven he has the stamina to maintain over 1 1/4 miles since two of his stakes wins came in races just a furlong shorter than the 2022 Kentucky Derby distance. Also, he is the son of Uncle Mo, who won two Grade 1 races back in his day and has already produced one Derby winner, Nyquist in 2016. Add in that Mo Donegal is trained by the most experienced Kentucky Derby trainer of all-time, Todd Pletcher, who also has two Derby wins, and the horse has all of the credentials needed for success on Saturday.
