Kentucky Derby 2023: Early morning-line odds

Kentucky Derby 2023 will be run in three weeks on the first Saturday, in May and the Horse Racing Nation staff has put together an early look at the morning line for the top 22 horses on the official Derby points list.

Todd Pletcher, who is seeking his third win in the Kentucky Derby, has three horses who are among the six shortest prices in this preliminary morning line at 7-2, 8-1 and 12-1. Each of them was a winner of a 100-point race. Brad Cox has four Derby contenders who range from 10-1 to 40-1.

Pletcher's Forte was made the 7-2 morning-line favorite based on his four victories on the Kentucky Derby trail, two in his 2-year-old campaign and two this year culminating with a win in the Florida Derby (G1). His stablemate Tapit Trice won his last four starts, with two on the road to the Kentucky Derby ending with the Blue Grass (G1) last weekend. He is the 8-1 second choice on the morning line. Kingsbarns is unbeaten in three career starts, all of them this year including the Louisiana Derby (G2), and is listed at 12-1.

This early Kentucky Derby morning line includes the most current list of horses from which the field is likely to come, so the total points of the line are not in final form.