2025 Kentucky Derby horses, futures, odds, date, preview: Expert who hit 10 Derby-Oaks Doubles releases picks

Bob Baffert is a six-time Kentucky Derby winner, but the legendary trainer has been barred from competing at Churchill Downs the last three years. However, Baffert will hope to make a triumphant return at the 2025 Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 3, with several horses who look like strong 2025 Kentucky Derby contenders. Citizen Bull has already collected 60 qualifying points and sits atop the 2025 Road to the Kentucky Derby standings with just over two months until the first leg of the Triple Crown. Citizen Bull won the American Pharoah Stakes as a juvenile and the Robert B. Lewis Stakes earlier this month under Baffert's guidance. Now, he's priced at 9-1 in the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds.

The only horse with shorter 2025 Kentucky Derby futures odds is Baffert stablemate Barnes, the 8-1 favorite among the 2025 Kentucky Derby horses. Before making any 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine's elite horse racing expert Jody Demling.

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling has nailed the Kentucky Oaks-Derby double 11 times in the last 16 years. He also predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years and called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including in 2023, when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta, as well as the trifecta in 2024. Anyone who has followed him on those picks is up huge.

Now, with the 2025 Kentucky Derby futures already on the board, Demling is sharing his picks and 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.

Top 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions

One of Demling's surprising 2025 Kentucky Derby picks: He is fading John Hancock, even though he is undefeated and coming off a win at the 2025 Sam F. Davis Stakes. Trainer Brad Cox is technically a Kentucky Derby winner with Mandaloun in 2021, but he's still never been to the winner's circle at the Run for the Roses because Medina Spirit was initially awarded the winner before the failed drug test.

Cox would go on to win the 2021 Belmont Stakes with Essential Quality but has come up empty at the Triple Crown in the three years since. John Hancock was sired by Constitution out of Freud mare Scribbling Sarah, but he's not as tested as some of the other horses on the Kentucky Derby trail. He didn't race at all as a two-year-old and both of his wins came at Tampa Bay Downs against less-than-stellar competition. See which other 2025 Kentucky Derby horses to avoid at SportsLine.

Another stunner: Demling is high on Burnham Square, even though he is a 15-1 longshot in the latest Kentucky Derby odds 2025. Australian trainer Ian Wilkes was an assistant under hall-of-famer Carl Nafzger when Street Sense won the 2007 Kentucky Derby and he collected a high-profile win of his own at the 2012 Breeders' Cup Classic with Fort Larned beating Mucho Macho Man by half a length. Now he's hoping to make his first Triple Crown breakthrough with Burnham Square.

This son of Liam's Map out of Scat Daddy mare Linda debuted at Keeneland in October, raced the following month at Churchill Downs and finally broke his maiden at Gulfstream Park in December. He followed that up with another win at Gulfstream Park in the 2025 Holy Bull Stakes on Feb. 1 to collect 20 points in the Road to the Kentucky Derby 2025 standings. Scat Daddy won the 2007 Fountain of Youth Stakes and the 2007 Florida Derby to earn his way into that year's Kentucky Derby and Burnham Square is likely to follow in his grandsire's footsteps as a probable entrant for those Florida prep races. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.

How to make 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, bets

Demling is especially high on an epic double-digit longshot who "keeps getting better and better." Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Kentucky Derby leaderboard, over at SportsLine.

Which horse wins the Kentucky Derby 2025, and which double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling's picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the expert who has nailed 11 Derby-Oaks doubles.

2025 Kentucky Derby odds, futures