Energetic Classic Empire is one of the horses to watch in the Kentucky Derby.Eclipse Sportswire/Getty Images

The Kentucky Derby is regularly a wide-open race that often features lively long shots, and this year’s race figures to follow a similar scenario when 20 horses go to the post Saturday at the famed Churchill Downs race track.

While horse racing is no longer the huge factor it was in the first half of the 20th century when it was one of the dominant sports in North America along with boxing and baseball, the Kentucky Derby is still a major highlight on the sporting calendar.

Always Dreaming and Classic Empire are the two favorites in the race, but both horses face several challenges. The biggest of those is negotiating the traffic caused by the huge field.

A slow start can also be a huge problem. Come-from-behind horses often drift to the back of the pack before mounting a charge at the halfway point of the race or later. That strategy can be fatal in the Derby, because a slow start can leave a horse in 19th or 20th place and dozens of lengths behind. That can easily translate into a deficit that is simply too large to make up.

Late-running horses can win the Derby, but most have to stay within a reasonable length of the leaders to have a chance when charging down the stretch.

2017 Kentucky Derby Details

Where: Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky

Always Dreaming is listed as the plus-400 favorite by OddsShark, which translates to 4-1 in traditional horse racing handicapping.

Trained by Todd Pletcher and ridden by John Velazquez, Always Dreaming comes into the Run for the Roses having won three consecutive races. He will start from the No. 5 post position.

His last race was a victory in the Florida Derby, and this is an energetic horse who is nearly always running extremely well down the stretch.

 

Always Dreaming, Garry Jones/Associated Press

His Florida Derby win was noted for his time of 36.2 seconds during the final ⅜-mile, according to Steve Haskin of Bloodhorse.com.

“The horse is moving fantastic. We want to be able to control that energy and I think we’ve made big strides in doing that overnight,” Pletcher said, per Alicia Wincze Hughes of BloodHorse.com. 

Classic Empire figures to be in the picture as well as a result of five victories in his six starts. Trainer Mark Casse clearly has a capable horse here, but Classic Empire had a problem with a foot abscess earlier in the year and that led to a third-place finish in the Holy Bull Stakes at Gulfstream Park in February.

He appeared to recover from that injury when he picked up a victory in the Arkansas Derby April 15, and if he can run back to that winning form Saturday, he should have an excellent chance to find the winner’s circle or at least hit the board. Classic Empire will start out of the No. 14 hole.

The two favorites and the rest of the field may have to deal with wet conditions, as the National Weather Service is calling for a 40 percent chance of rain Saturday in Louisville. 

That could result in less than ideal conditions, and that means several sleepers could emerge in this race.

Girvin has four starts and he has three victories and one second-place finish to his credit. While that’s impressive, it should be noted that all of Girvin’s races have been in Louisiana, and in addition to making the trip to Kentucky, he is now facing competitors that have raced at high-profile tracks in Florida, California and New York.

Girvin will start from the No. 7 post.

Gormley is another horse that fits into the “sleeper” description because he comes into the race as a 16-1 shot and he will take off from the No. 18 post.

When a horse starts from one of the outside posts, it is usually vital to get off to a solid start or he could get shuffled to the back of the pack. That would make any comeback effort extremely challenging and unlikely.

Gormley is ridden by Victor Espinoza and trained by John Shirreffs, and he won two of his last three races. 

Gormley picked up a victory in the Sham Stakes in January and then struggled to a fourth-place finish in the San Felipe Stakes in March.

While that loss was disappointing, Gormley bounced back nicely with a win in the Santa Anita Derby in early April.

Look for Espinoza to take Gormley fairly close to the lead in the first half of the race. He has shown plenty of speed throughout his career, and his pedigree indicates he should also handle the 1 ¼-mile distance of the Derby.

Information provided by KentuckyDerby.com unless otherwise indicated.