LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The suspense ended early for Forte and his trainer Todd Pletcher. Forte was the first name called in Monday’s post-position draw, and he was assigned stall 15 for Saturday’s $3 million Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs where he was installed as the 3-1 morning-line favorite on Churchill Downs’ line-maker Mike Battaglia’s morning-line. Daily Racing Form’s David Aragona made Forte the 7-2 morning-line favorite. Pletcher had horses draw the rail post - which hasn’t won the Kentucky Derby since 1986 - the last two years, so he was relieved not to have to worry about that post this year. Tapit Trice, who was installed as the 6-1 second choice on Aragona’s line, and Kingsbarns (15-1), Pletcher’s other horses in the race, drew posts 5 and 6, respectively. “I’ve always said you can get bad trips from good post positions and good trips from bad post positions, it’s really about the way the race unfolds,” Pletcher said. “I do think the post position can affect strategies and that sometimes will affect the outcome.” Pletcher said the post draw shouldn’t affect strategy for his horses. “Tapit Trice, it didn’t matter what position he drew, we need to get out of the gate a little bit and get some position; same thing with Forte,” Pletcher said. “Kingsbarns is going to have to judge how quick the pace is on where he wants to be.” :: DRF Kentucky Derby Package: Save on PPs, Clocker Reports, Betting Strategies, and more. Forte, last year’s juvenile champion, was made the favorite based on his 6-for-7 record, which includes four Grade 1 victories, including the Florida Derby five weeks ago. Tapit Trice was made the second choice based on victories in the Grade 1 Blue Grass and Grade 3 Tampa Bay Derby. If those two horses go off the first and second choices come post time, it will be the first time since 2015 a trainer sent out the top two betting choices in the Derby. That year, Bob Baffert sent out favorite American Pharoah to victory and second choice Dortmund to a third-place finish. Pletcher, a two-time Derby winner, holds the record with 62 starters. This marks the 13th time Pletcher entered at least three horses in the Kentucky Derby. When it became apparent Major Dude would not make it into the body of the race, he was rerouted to the American Turf on the Derby undercard. Twenty-three horses were entered for the Derby. Cyclone Mischief, Mandarin Hero, and King Russell, in order, are on the also-eligible list. Those horses can only get into the race if there is a scratch Friday by 9 a.m., the designated early scratch time. Last year, Ethereal Road scratched just before 9 a.m. Friday, paving the way for Rich Strike to draw into the field and subsequently pull off an 80-1 upset. :: Get the full DRF Kentucky Derby Clocker Report by Mike Welsch and the DRF Clocker Team Brad Cox entered four in this year’s Derby. Hit Show and Verifying, drew posts 1 and 2, respectively, while Jace’s Road drew 12 and Angel of Empire 14. Of Hit Show’s rail draw, Cox said “it’s probably not what you want but he can figure it out. It’ll be up to Manny Franco. We got a tighter gate than we used to, which probably benefits the horses down inside so I’m good with it.” Two years ago, Churchill Downs began using a single gate with 20 stalls. Previous to that, there was one 14-stall gate and one six-stall gate. The Japanese-based Derma Sotogake drew post 17. That post, mysteriously, is 0 for 43 in the Kentucky Derby. Continuar, also from Japan, drew post 20. The Derby will be race 12 of 14 on a card that begins at 10:30 a.m. The scheduled Derby post time is 6:57 p.m. The long-range weather forecast calls for a 50-percent chance of rain Friday, but no rain and temperatures in the low 70s on Saturday. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages. Grade 1, $3 million Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs, May 6 1. Hit Show, Manny Franco, 30-1 2. Verifying, Tyler Gaffalione, 20-1 3. Two Phil’s, Jareth Loveberry, 15-1 4. Confidence Game, James Graham, 20-1 5. Tapit Trice, Luis Saez, 6-1 6. Kingsbarns, Jose Ortiz, 15-1 7. Reincarnate, John Velazquez, 20-1 8. Mage, Javier Castellano, 20-1 9. Skinner, Juan Hernandez, 12-1 10. Practical Move, Ramon Vazquez, 10-1 11. Disarm, Joel Rosario, 30-1 12. Jace’s Road, Florent Geroux, 50-1 13. Sun Thunder, Brian Hernandez Jr., 30-1 14. Angel of Empire, Flavien Prat, 8-1 15. Forte, Irad Ortiz Jr., 7-2 16. Raise Cain, Gerardo Corrales, 50-1 17. Derma Sotogake, Christophe Lemaire, 8-1 18. Rocket Can, Junior Alvarado, 30-1 19. Lord Miles, Paco Lopez, 30-1 20. Continuar, Ryusei Sakai, 50-1 AE21. Cyclone Mischief, Joel Rosario, 50-1 AE22. Mandarin Hero, Kazushi Kimura, 20-1 AE23. King Russell, Rafael Bejarano, 50-1 Odds by David Aragona Blinkers on - Rocket Can, Sun Thunder