🏇 SBR Kentucky Derby Draft 2026: Who Did Our Experts Pick to Win Saturday's Race?

Nothing motivates us at Sportsbook Review like being right and making money, so we combined our two favorite pastimes into a bonding activity with stakes and competed against each other in our inaugural SBR Kentucky Derby Draft.

The rules were fairly straightforward: we ran a four-round draft with 20 picks across our five betting experts, and each horse earns points for their finishing position with a +5 bonus for first and last. The winner takes home $50 USD - presumably to spend on the Preakness Stakes - while the losers get mocked endlessly on social media.

Here is how we ranked all 20 horses ahead of the 2026 Kentucky Derby, which begins Saturday at approximately 6:57 p.m. ET on NBC, along with our experts' analysis on why they chose the four horses in their metaphorical stable. Saddle up, fellas!

📜 How the SBR Kentucky Derby Draft works: Rules & scoring

As mentioned above, the draft was simple by nature: five experts chose four horses each across a 20-pick snake draft with a "third-round reversal" to keep things fair. Here's a quick overview of how the draft worked:

• Snake draft, third-round reversal (last pick in R1 picks first in R2 and R3)
• Scoring is based on finishing position, with 1st earning points equal to the number of horses in the field and each spot worth one point fewer than the position above (1st = 20 points, 2nd = 19 points, 3rd = 18 points, etc.)
• 1st place and last place each receive a +5 bonus
• Scratched horses earn 0 points; ties split points evenly
• Winner takes home $50

We drafted our horses on Thursday afternoon after Silent Tactic and Fulleffort were scratched but before Right to Party was scratched; we subbed in the replacement horse for that pick and will do so for any horses scratched before post time.

🏆 2026 Kentucky Derby draft results

Here's how our four-round expert draft played out on Thursday afternoon:

*Right to Party (scratched) was replaced by Robusta in our draft

📊 Kentucky Derby power rankings

Here is how our experts ranked all 20 horses based on our draft results:

1. Renegade
2. Commandment
3. Further Ado
4. Chief Wallabee
5. Emerging Market
6. So Happy
7. The Puma
8. Danon Bourbon
9. Golden Tempo
10. Robusta*
11. Albus
12. Incredibolt
13. Potente
14. Wonder Dean
15. Six Speed
16. Litmus Test
17. Great White
18. Pavlovian
19. Intrepido
20. Ocelli

*Right to Party (scratched) was replaced by Robusta in our draft

📝 Kentucky Derby draft analysis

Here is how each of our experts analyzed their final crop from the draft:

🐴 Rob Paul's Kentucky Derby draft picks

• Renegade
• Robusta
• Six Speed
• Litmus Test

Having the No. 1 pick, it was a no-brainer to take Renegade, who has the best odds and sits in the top post position. Trainer Todd Pletcher has taken home the Kentucky Derby crown twice, too. After taking the top option, I focused on selecting horses with better post positions (Right to Party, Litmus Test) and then one of the longest shots (Six Speed).

(Editor's note: we had to replace Right to Party with Robusta, who will now surely win the race and make Rob look like a genius.)

🐴 C Jackson Cowart's Kentucky Derby draft picks

• Commandment
• Golden Tempo
• Wonder Dean
• Great White

Commandment could be the best horse in this field even as the No. 2 pick, but the best value play in this entire draft is grabbing Golden Tempo - an elite closer who should be able to overcome the outside post - with the ninth pick. Adding the upside of speedy Japanese colt Wonder Dean from a strong No. 10 post and the massive stalking Great White with the final two picks? Best of luck, gents.

🐴 Corey Scott's Kentucky Derby draft picks

• Further Ado
• Danon Bourbon
• Potente
• Pavlovian

I’m not an expert on horse racing, but I do know how to gamble. I know the Kentucky Derby is an efficient market, so my strategy was to power-rank the horses using a racebook that takes large bets. Renegade was No. 1 on my board, while Ocelli was No. 20. While the draft went mostly as I predicted, I did get a couple of opportunities to grab undervalued horses (Potente, Pavlovian).

🐴 LJ Blut's Kentucky Derby draft picks

• Chief Wallabee
• The Puma
• Incredibolt
• Intrepido

Chief Wallabee, The Puma, Incredibolt, and Intrepido each bring different strengths that make them legitimate win candidates in the Kentucky Derby. I am honestly shocked I landed all four horses in this draft. Chief Wallabee has late closing power, The Puma offers tactical versatility, Incredibolt brings raw speed that can control the pace, and Intrepido adds stamina for a strong finish. In a chaotic 20-horse field at Churchill Downs, having multiple running styles increases the chance one breaks the race open and holds on for victory.

🐴 Dustin Saracini's Kentucky Derby draft picks

• Emerging Market
• So Happy
• Albus
• Ocelli

My ticket has real upside, and that's what we're looking for at the Kentucky Derby. I leaned into high-value longshots with legitimate paths to outperform their odds. Horses like Emerging Market and Ocelli bring improving form and the kind of late-running style that can capitalize if the pace collapses up front, which is a classic Derby-winning setup. So Happy adds intrigue as a potential pace factor who could hang around longer than expected if left alone early, while Albus fits the mold of a sneaky closer who could pass tired horses in the stretch and blow up the exotics. In a race known for chaos and inflated payouts, targeting runners like these - who may be peaking at the right time rather than overbet favorites - feels like the strongest play out of all the SBR players.

🏇 More Kentucky Derby picks & predictions

In addition to our expert draft, we've been scouring the field and offering our best Kentucky Derby picks and predictions for Saturday's race at Churchill Downs:

• Kentucky Derby picks and predictions
• Kentucky Derby long shots and sleeper picks
• Kentucky Derby odds & betting favorites
• Kentucky Derby AI prediction & picks
• Kentucky Derby betting trends
• Kentucky Derby post position

📺 How to watch the Kentucky Derby 2026

• When: Saturday, May 2
• Post time: 6:57 p.m. ET
• Where: Churchill Downs (Louisville, Ky.)
• How to watch: NBC | Peacock | NBC Sports App