The Asmussen family will go head-to-head in the Run for the Roses when the starting gate opens in the 2024 Kentucky Derby on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Steve Asmussen, the winningest all-time trainer in the history of North America with more than 10,400 wins, will saddle Lecomte Stakes winner Track Phantom. His 25-year-old son, Keith, has 120 career wins as a jockey and will ride Just Steel, who is trained by Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas. Track Phantom and Just Steel are 20-1 longshots among the 2024 Kentucky Derby horses. Florida Derby winner Fierceness is the 5-2 favorite in the 2024 Kentucky Derby odds.
The 2024 Kentucky Derby post time is 6:57 p.m. ET. With the Kentucky Derby annually featuring the largest field in North American racing, you’ll want to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and analyst Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2024 Kentucky Derby picks, considering the success she’s had handicapping this race.
Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders’ Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.
Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. In a wide-open Kentucky Derby in 2021, she gave out Medina Spirit, who crossed the finish line first, as the winner at 12-1. In Pool 5 of the Kentucky Derby Future Wager two years ago, she suggested a play on All Other 3-Year-Olds, which cashed at a whopping 18-1 when Rich Strike won the Derby.
Yu enters this year’s Kentucky Derby on a roll. She correctly called National Treasure to win the Pegasus World Cup. In the month leading up to the Kentucky Derby, she predicted Stronghold’s upset win in the Santa Anita Derby and smashed the exacta in the Apple Blossom Handicap.
For the first leg of the Triple Crown, Yu has handicapped the 2024 Kentucky Derby lineup, made her picks and constructed her best bets. You can head to SportsLine now to see them.
Top 2024 Kentucky Derby predictions
One surprise: Yu is fading Fierceness, even though he is the 5-2 Kentucky Derby favorite. Trained by Todd Pletcher, Fierceness has three wins and one third in five career starts. He is coming off a resounding victory in the Florida Derby, which earned a 110 Beyer Speed Figure, the best in the 2024 Kentucky Derby field.
However, Fierceness was able to set a moderate pace on the lead that day after the other speed horse in the race, Hades, broke poorly from the starting gate. “I can’t see him being a lonely leader again in the Derby, and he has thrown in the towel the two times someone eyeballed him,” Yu told SportsLine. See who else to fade here.
Another curveball: Yu is high on Just a Touch, even though he’s a longshot at 10-1 in the Kentucky Derby odds 2024. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. Just a Touch has raced just three times in his career. He won his career debut on January 27 at Gulfstream Park before finishing second in the Gotham Stakes on March 2.
In his last start, the Blue Grass Stakes, he took over the lead at the eighth pole, but could not hold off the late-running Sierra Leone. The runner-up finish earned him a career-best 96 Beyer Speed Figure. “This is the kind of year that a horse with one lifetime win can capture the blanket of roses with the right trip,” Yu told SportsLine. You can see all of Yu’s 2024 Kentucky Derby bets here.
How to make 2024 Kentucky Derby picks
Moreover, Yu’s top pick is a horse who “will be happy to get the added ground” at Churchill Downs. She’s also high on a massive double-digit longshot who “blew my doors off.” She is including these horses in her 2024 Kentucky Derby bets, and so should you. She’s sharing which 2024 Kentucky Derby horses to back at SportsLine.
So who wins the 2024 Kentucky Derby? What double-digit longshot is a must-back? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? Visit SportsLine to see Yu’s picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the Santa Anita-based racing insider who has a long history of success in the Kentucky Derby, and find out.
