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With the decision of the connections of Mark Valeski to skip Saturday's 2012 Kentucky Derby, the field is all but set in advance of tomorrow afternoon's post position draw at Churchill Downs (post position draw: Wednesday, May 2nd, 5:00pm Eastern; TV: NBCSN). Optimizer, 21st on the graded stakes earnings list coming into this week, now finds himself squarely in the Derby field.
As opposed to the last several years, this crop of three-year-old colts has remained relatively healthy over the course of the winter and spring racing season. With the exception of Algorithms, most of the big names are still on the Derby radar and are expected to run on Saturday.
Below are the horses expected to comprised the 2012 Kentucky Derby, in alphabetical order.
| Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
| Alpha | TBD | K. McLaughlin |
| Bodemeister | M. Smith | B. Baffert |
| Creative Cause | J. Rosario | M. Harrington |
| Daddy Long Legs | C. O'Donoghue | A. O'Brien |
| Daddy Nose Best | G. Gomez | S. Asmussen |
| Done Talking | S. Russell | H. Smith |
| Dullahan | K. Desormeaux | D. Romans |
| El Padrino | R. Bejarano | T. Pletcher |
| Gemologist | J. Castellano | T. Pletcher |
| Hansen | R. Dominguez | M. Maker |
| I'll Have Another | M. Gutierrez | D. O'Niell |
| Liaison | M. Garcia | B. Baffert |
| Optimizer | TBD | D.W. Lukas |
| Prospective | L. Contreras | M. Casse |
| Rousing Sermon | J. Lezcano | J. Hollendorfer |
| Sabercat | C. Nakatani | S. Asmussen |
| Take Charge Indy | C. Borel | P. Byrne |
| Trinniberg | W. Martinez | B. Parboo |
| Union Rags | J. Leparoux | M. Matz |
| Went The Day Well | J. Velazquez | G. Motion |