Kentucky Derby Favorite Journalism Draws Post Eight and Continues to Be the Horse to Beat
By Space Coast Daily // May 6, 2025
The prestigious Kentucky Derby is set for its 151st running, and there’s very much one horse to beat at the iconic event at Churchill Downs, and that’s hot favorite Journalism, who has been drawn eighth for the event.
Trainer Michael McCarthy’s horse, who won the Santa Anita Derby, leads the betting in a big way, and the draw, which sits Journalism in the middle of the 20-horse field, will no doubt lead more punters to back the in-form colt.
If you also want to place a wager on Journalism, or indeed any other horse in the big race, then all the insights and info here on the Kentucky Derby betting will certainly help you to take a step closer to a nice payout.
Journalism has won four of her five races to date, and the three-year-old may only see the likes of Sandman and Sovereignty as those who could prevent an easy victory in the revered race.
McCarthy has been pleased with the way his horse has settled since making the trip to the race track, commenting.
“The horse has been great here over the last five days. No complaints.”
He went on to talk about the pace needed to make an impact.
“He could bounce out of there and put himself close. So, we’ll hope for a good post position, see how he breaks. I would imagine he’d probably be in that first flight of horses.” he added.
Jockey Umberto Rispoli will once again ride Journalism, and he, too, is confident about what Journalism can achieve at the highest stage and has already mapped out a path to victory.
“I want to get him into a good spot going into the first turn, but I don’t want him to be too much in a hurry. It’s going to depend on the pace in front of him. He can be a horse near the front. If the pace is crazy fast, he can be toward the back. He has nice gate speed, which you don’t see too often for a big horse like him.”
This will be the 36-year-old Italian’s third Kentucky Derby, having previously finished 14th and 9th on Brooklyn Strong and Endlessly in 2021 and 2024, respectively. To be fair to Rispoli, this is the first time he’s riding a horse that is a genuine contender, and he can’t wait to step things up.
“If you asked me five years ago when I landed in California if I was going to ride in the Kentucky Derby, I would have told you, ‘I don’t know,’”
“It’s a privilege. (Winning) would be the best achievement of my career.”
The Kentucky Derby is always one of the highlights of the world racing calendar, and 150,000 spectators are expected at the course with millions more watching from afar, no doubt with a betting slip in hand to help focus their interest even further.
Known as the most exciting two minutes in sport, the “Run for the Roses” was first run in 1875 and in 2025 will take place on Saturday, May 3rd and you can expect upwards of $200 million will be bet on the race, with Journalism likely to secure a huge chunk of those punts.
