LOUISVILLE, Ky. – At one end of the stable area there is Sierra Leone, a well-bred, magnificent-looking specimen who cost $2.3 million and hails from some of the most powerful connections in the sport. At the other, there is West Saratoga, a modestly bred, ordinary-looking gray who cost $11,000 and hails from connections with humble beginnings. In the middle there is Fierceness, a homebred owned by a man, Mike Repole, who spends millions of dollars on young horses at auction trying to play on the big stage. In horse racing, there is no bigger stage than the Kentucky Derby and those three stories and as many as 17 others will play out before a crowd of 150,000 under what is expected to be overcast but relatively dry conditions Saturday at Churchill Downs. “I think it encapsulates everything about this game that’s cool, you know,” said Todd Pletcher, a two-time Kentucky winner and trainer of expected Derby 150 favorite Fierceness. “Just because you have the most money doesn’t mean you’re going to have the most success or the best horse.” Fierceness represents Pletcher’s record 65th starter in what will be his 24th Derby. Fierceness would be just his second favorite, the other being 2017 Derby winner Always Dreaming. :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. “We’ve been here a lot. We haven’t been here with many favorites,” Pletcher said. “I think that changes the complexion of it a little bit maybe when you think you got a big chance.” The Coolmore connections of Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, and Susan Magnier, have spent millions on horses over the years. Tabor won the Kentucky Derby in 1995 with Thunder Gulch but have not won since. Coolmore, along with Peter Brant, a part-owner of 1984 Derby winner Swale, and Brook Smith and Georg von Opel’s Westerberg are here with Sierra Leone. The Gun Runner colt was front and center when he sold for $2.3 million at auction in Saratoga in the summer of 2022. Chad Brown, the trainer of Sierra Leone, said, “I’m pinching myself” that he has the horse in his barn. “You go through thousands of horses, breeding them, buying them – literally thousands – it’s hard to find a horse that looks like this, how he moves like this. I do think he’s a very rare horse,” Brown said. “He’s just one little inexperienced episode away from being undefeated coming into this Derby, which is impressive if you think about it.” Also impressive is the presence of Larry Demeritte, a 74-year-old native of the Bahamas who is battling cancer and a heart disease known as amyloidosis, and his horse West Saratoga. The son of Exaggerator cost $11,000 at the Keeneland sale. He won the first Kentucky Derby points race, the Iroquois, last September and after his runner-up finish in the Jeff Ruby Steaks in March, he will be in the Derby starting gate. “It means a great deal to be here. It’s the pinnacle of our sport, it’s the tip-top of the mountain,” said Demeritte, who trains West Saratoga for Harry Veruchi, whose owned horses for 42 years and has never come close to a race like this. “It’s gratifying to know hard work paid off. It’s a long journey, but we’re here and I always tell people the destination is a lot easier than the road you take traveling here.” :: Get the Inside Track with the FREE DRF Morning Line Email Newsletter. Subscribe now.  Demeritte is not deterred physically nor intimidated professionally going against the likes of Pletcher, Brown, Steve Asmussen, Brad Cox, and Bill Mott in the Derby. “They’re just my colleagues, they’re not a better a horseman than I am,” Demeritte said. “Going into this race I’m not excited just to be in it, I’m training this horse to win this race. They’re going to have to show me their horse is better than my horse. “They’re doing the running, all we can do is get them there the best way and I feel like I got my horse in the shape he needs to be in to get the mile and a quarter.” :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.