02-05-2025
Kentucky Derby 2025: Staff picks, long-shot contenders and bold predictions
Kentucky Derby 2025: Staff picks, long-shot contenders and bold predictions
The 151st running of the Kentucky Derby promises to be another electric affair.
Bob Baffert is back at Churchill Downs with Citizen Bull following a three-year suspension, Kenneth McPeek is looking to go back-to-back with Render Judgment after Mystik Dan won last year and the Derby favorite remains Journalism. Yes, Journalism.
Unsurprisingly, a lot of writers at For The Win are big fans of the favorite. But picking the thoroughbred with the best odds is just too easy, so we asked our staff for long shots and bold predictions.
Here's where we landed.
Post time for the 151st Kentucky Derby is set for 6:57 p.m. on Saturday, May 3.
Who's winning the 2025 Kentucky Derby?
Blake Schuster: Journalism. Never bet against the facts and truth (Which in this case is Journalism's four-race win streak)
Meghan Hall: Publisher. Publisher rhymes with finisher, and that sounds like a winner to me.
Michelle Martinelli: Journalism. I'm already pot-committed at this point.
Mike Sykes: Journalism. I don't really see how anyone on staff can pick anyone else at this point. The fate of Journalism depends on us making the right choice here.
Bryan Kalbrosky: Sandman. Anyone of you betting on "journalism" in 2025 has more hope than I do. The smart money is on Sandman.
Charles Curtis: Journalism. Because journalism could use a win right now. (Also, it's the best name in the field.)
Christian D'Andrea: Neoequos. Your boy loves vowels.
Prince Grimes: Journalism. What did you expect?
Who's your long-shot pick to win?
Blake Schuster: Flying Mohaw. Because Larry Collmus shouting out the name of Jayson Werth's horse as he crosses the finish line first is what dreams are made of.
Meghan Hall: Tiztastic. Tiztastic, Mr. Fantastic, Made of plastic. It's probably not winning much, but it can dream.
Michelle Martinelli: Sandman. Take my hand. We're off to never-never land.
Mike Sykes: Admire Daytona: What a cool name. As a Pusha T fan, I do, indeed, admire Daytona. Classic album. Sorry, Drake.
Bryan Kalbrosky: Citizen Bull. Or was it Citizen Kane? Or was it Raging Bull? Either way, this horse has a real shot despite an unfavorable starting position.
Charles Curtis: Flying Mohawk. Jayson Werth was good at baseball, ergo his horse should be good at racing. Right?
Christian D'Andrea: Journalism. because it's been dead for years amirite (looks in mirror, sobs)
Prince Grimes: Chunk of Gold. Because it could've been a coin or a nugget or a medallion, but it's a chunk, and I love that.
What's your boldest Derby prediction?
Blake Schuster: Bob Baffert gets booed nonstop all weekend.
Meghan Hall: Taylor Swift makes a surprise appearance. It just seems like something she would do just to watch people twist themselves into a pretzel.
Michelle Martinelli: Bob Baffert can't escape some new controversy after the race.
Mike Sykes: Journalism finally wins something for the first time in the 21st century. Take that, Big Tech.
Bryan Kalbrosky: Wes Welker shows up and his behavior is even more unexpected and loose than it was That One Time he partied at the Kentucky Derby.
Charles Curtis: Travis Kelce shows up without Taylor Swift, but she hits "like" on his IG photo. Guess that's not THAT bold.
Christian D'Andrea: Whichever horse Bob Baffert has trained jumps the rail and charges him. REEEEEVVVEEEEENGGGGGEEEEEE
Prince Grimes: The winning horse gets a DQ, though that probably won't be much of a surprise given recent results.
