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The Kentucky Derby 2025 will feature the top three-year-old horses, so it’s no surprise that many of the top horses in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field have shared a track before. Journalism, the 3-1 favorite in the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds, defeated Bob Baffert’s Rodriguez at the San Felipe Stakes on March 1 and the Baffert horse will be competing in the 2025 Kentucky Derby field. The favorite also defeated Baffert’s Citizen Bull, who finished fourth, in the Santa Anita Derby on April 5, Journalism’s most recent run. Should the fact that Journalism edged out Baffert’s two horses running in the 2025 Kentucky Derby make you feel even more confident about including the favorite in 2025 Kentucky Derby bets when the 151st Run for the Roses takes place on Saturday?

Sovereignty (5-1) and Sandman (6-1), with the next shortest odds among the 2025 Kentucky Derby horses, have also run against each other. Sovereignty won the Street Sense, so how should that factor into a 2025 Kentucky Derby betting strategy? Before making any 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, be sure to see the horse racing predictions and futures bets from SportsLine’s elite horse racing expert Jody Demling. 

A fixture in the horse racing world who has been writing about, talking about and betting on races for years, Demling has nailed the Kentucky Oaks-Derby double 11 times in the last 16 years. He also predicted the winner of the Belmont Stakes four of the last seven years and called 10 of the last 20 Preakness winners, including in 2023, when he hit the winner, exacta, trifecta and superfecta, as well as the trifecta in 2024. Anyone who has followed him on those picks on betting sites like TwinSpires and 1/ST BET is up huge.

Now, with the 2025 Kentucky Derby post positions set and odds on the board, Demling is sharing his 2025 Kentucky Derby betting picks and 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions over at SportsLine. Go here to see them.

Top 2025 Kentucky Derby predictions

One of Demling’s surprising 2025 Kentucky Derby picks: He is fading Rodriguez (12-1), who barely cracks the top 10 finishers in his 2025 Kentucky Derby projections. Rodriguez proved himself a legitimate contender with an emphatic 3 1/2-length victory in the nine-furlong Wood Memorial at Aqueduct.

However, that doesn’t erase concerns over his relatively poor run at the San Felipe Stakes in March. In that race, he finished a distant third behind 2025 Kentucky Derby favorite Journalism. Seeing Rodriguez fade out of the picture as Journalism built speed as the winner is a difficult image to unsee, and Demling doesn’t believe Rodriguez can keep up with his preferred 2025 Kentucky Derby horses. There are too many concerns for a horse priced at 12-1, which is why Demling is looking elsewhere when it comes to Kentucky Derby 2025 bets. See which other 2025 Kentucky Derby horses to avoid at SportsLine.

Another stunner: Demling is high on Luxor Cafe, even though he is a 15-1 longshot in the Kentucky Derby odds 2025. Every horse is looking to make some form of history at each Kentucky Derby running, but Luxor Cafe is looking to deliver a nation its first victory on the grand stage of horse racing as Luxor Cafe seeks to become the first-ever Japanese horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Luxor Cafe has more than just a good story behind him as the horse has won four of five career races and is the son of arguably the greatest horse of all time in American Pharoah.

American Pharoah won the 2015 Triple Crown and Luxor Cafe has displayed a resemblance to his father. Luxor Cafe hasn’t run against a field quite like what he’ll experience at the 2025 Kentucky Derby, but the colt has shown breakaway speed late in his victories to earn his spot in the Run for the Roses. Luxor Cafe won the Fukuryu Stakes on March 29 by five lengths and he can make a late run again to make history and record a nice payday for anyone featuring him in 2025 Kentucky Derby bets. See which other horses to back at SportsLine.

How to make 2025 Kentucky Derby picks, bets

Demling is especially high on a colossal double-digit longshot who is “generating buzz on the backside.” Demling is sharing which horse it is, along with his entire projected 2025 Kentucky Derby leaderboard, over at SportsLine.

Which horse wins the Kentucky Derby 2025, and which huge double-digit longshot is a must-back? Check out the latest 2025 Kentucky Derby odds below, then visit SportsLine to see Demling’s picks for the Kentucky Derby, all from the expert who has nailed 11 Derby-Oaks doubles.

2025 Kentucky Derby odds, post positions