20 enter Derby; Eddington, 'Rock' excluded
A full field of 20 3-year-olds was entered Wednesday morning at Churchill Downs for Saturday's 130th running of the Kentucky Derby. With more than the maximum number of 20 horses seeking spots in the starting gate, eligibility was determined by the most graded stakes earnings. Based on that criteria, as expected, Wood Memorial third-place finisher Eddington and Santa Anita Derby third-place finisher Rock Hard Ten were both excluded from the field.
After taking entries, the Churchill Downs racing office then pulled pills to determine the selection order for post positions, which will be drawn after 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon. Minister Eric will receive first post preference based on the random draw, followed by Master David, Friends Lake, and Imperialism. Likely favorites The Cliff's Edge, Smarty Jones, and Tapit drew selection numbers eight, 11, and 16, respectively. Song of the Sword (post selection number 18), Limehouse (19), and Quinton's Gold Rush (20) will draw last.
| Kentucky Derby order of post position draw | ||||
| HORSE | OWNER | TRAINER | JOCKEY | |
| 1 | MINISTER ERIC | Diamond A Racing Corporation | Richard Mandela | Pat Day |
| 2 | MASTER DAVID | Georgica Stable | Bobby Frankel | Alex Solis |
| 3 | FRIENDS LAKE | Chester Broman | John Kimmel | Richard Migliore |
| 4 | IMPERIALISM | Steve Taub | Kristin Mulhall | Kent Desormeaux |
| 5 | ST AVERILL | Stan Fulton | Rafael Becerra | Tyler Baze |
| 6 | ACTION THIS DAY | B. Wayne Hughes | Richard Mandella | David Flores |
| 7 | WIMBLEDON | James McIngvale | Bob Baffert | Jerry Bailey |
| 8 | THE CLIFF'S EDGE | Robert V. La Penta | Nick Zito | Shane Sellers |
| 9 | POLLARD'S VISION | Edgewood Farms | Todd Pletcher | John Velazquez |
| 10 | BORREGO | Jon Kelly, Ralls & Foster, LLC, Brad Scott, Et Al | Beau Greely | Victor Espinoza |
| 11 | SMARTY JONES | Someday Farm | John Servis | Stewart Elliott |
| 12 | READ THE FOOTNOTES | Klaravich Stables | Richard Violette | Robby Albarado |
| 13 | BIRDSTONE | Mary Lou Whitney | Nick Zito | Edgar Prado |
| 14 | LION HEART | Michael Tabor & Derrick Smith | Patrick Biancone | Mike Smith |
| 15 | CASTLEDALE | Frank Lyons & Greg Knee | Jeff Mullins | Jose Valdivia |
| 16 | TAPIT | Winchell Thoroughbreds | Michael Dickinson | Ramon Dominguez |
| 17 | PRO PRADO | Mrs. James A. Winn | Bob Holthus | John McKee |
| 18 | SONG OF THE SWORD | Ernie Paragallo | Jennifer Pederson | Norberto Arroyo Jr |
| 19 | LIMEHOUSE | Dogwood Stable | Todd Pletcher | Jose Santos |
| 20 | QUINTONS GOLD RUSH | Padua Stables & Jay Manoogian | Steve Asmussen | Corey Nakatani |