LOUISVILLE: Unbeaten Nyquist was rated the 3-1 early favorite for Saturday’s 142nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville after drawing the 13th gate on Wednesday for the Run for the Roses.

Nyquist has won seven times at four different tracks and has some positive vibes on his side with trainer Doug O’Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez having teamed up for a Kentucky Derby win in 2012 with I’ll Have Another.

“Breaking from 13 is fine,” O’Neill said after the draw.

“He was number 13 when he won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile at Keeneland so the post draw didn’t matter to us a ton. But we’re happy being more to the outside for sure.”

Second choice in the first leg of U.S. thoroughbred racing’s Triple Crown is Exaggerator, an 8-1 choice starting from the 11th post position, with Creator, Gun Runner and Mohaymen joint third picks at 10-1 in the 20-horse field.

Exaggerator, coming off an impressive win over a sloppy track in last month’s Santa Anita Derby, is handled by a brotherly connection with Kent Desormeaux in the saddle for trainer J. Keith Desormeaux.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2016