Renegade tops 2026 Kentucky Derby field as Churchill Downs sets race day schedule
Renegade, the 4-1 favorite, leads a 20-horse Derby field as Churchill Downs sets Friday scratch deadlines and a Saturday post time of 6:57 p.m. ET.
Renegade enters the 152nd Kentucky Derby as the horse to beat, but the final shape of the race still depends on post position, scratches and the four also-eligible runners waiting just outside the gate. Churchill Downs has the race set for Saturday at its Louisville track, with post time approximately 6:57 p.m. ET, gates opening at 9 a.m. ET and the first race set for 11 a.m. ET.
Two dozen horses entered the Derby, including four also-eligible horses, and Churchill Downs expects a full field of 20 starters on race day. Renegade sits atop the 2025-2026 Road to the Kentucky Derby leaderboard with 125 points and is listed at 4-1 on the morning line. Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Renegade comes in off victories in the Sam F. Davis Stakes and the Arkansas Derby. Behind Renegade on the leaderboard are Albus with 100 points, Intrepido with 38 and Litmus Test with 34.
If the field changes before the gates spring, the also-eligible list is ready to matter. Great White, Ocelli, Robusta and Corona de Oro are the next horses in line if scratches create openings. Churchill Downs set scratch times for the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby on Friday at 9 a.m. ET, with scratch time for Derby day undercard races at 4 p.m. ET, leaving room for late movement before the Saturday field is locked.
The post draw, held Saturday, April 25, can still shape how the race is run and how bettors read the board. Churchill Downs has compiled post-position statistics since the starting gate was first introduced for the 1930 Kentucky Derby, and those numbers remain part of the annual conversation around pace, traffic and trip trouble. Post 1, for example, has not produced a Derby winner since Ferdinand in 1986, a reminder that the starting gate can matter as much as the final furlong.
The Derby remains the highest-attended horse race in the United States, which is why its reach extends well beyond racing circles. It pulls national attention to the sport’s health and safety record, the breeding-and-sales market and Louisville’s tourism economy. Churchill Downs has also been under scrutiny in recent years after horse deaths and a temporary suspension of its spring meet, prompting reforms that included better track maintenance and additional veterinary resources. Those issues still frame the race as much as the favorites do, and they will shadow the result long after the winner makes the turn for home.
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