2025 Louisiana Derby Betting Odds and Contenders Preview

The Fair Grounds spur of the Kentucky Derby trail began with the Gun Runner in December, continued through the Lecomte (G3) and Risen Star (G2), and draws to a close on Saturday, March 22, with the $1 million Louisiana Derby (G2). In addition to the massive purse, the 1 3/16-mile dirt race also offers 100-50-25-15-10 points on the Road to the Kentucky Derby, meaning the top two finishers virtually lock down a bid to the Run for the Roses, and others who run well may make it as well if they have run well in other preps.

The race has been rising in profile in recent years, thanks to the rich purse as well as the enhanced stamina test compared to preps in other locations. The 2025 edition attracted ten horses to see the starter, including Sam F. Davis winner John Hancock, Gun Runner winner Built, as well as Caldera, who narrowly missed to Bob Baffert trainee Getaway Car in the Sunland Derby.

Two horses have won both the Louisiana Derby and the Kentucky Derby: Black Gold (1924) and Grindstone (1996). In 2019, longshot Kentucky Derby winner Country House was fourth in the Louisiana Derby before winning the roses. And, in 2022, Epicenter won the Louisiana Derby en route to second-place finishes in both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness.

Louisiana Derby 2025 Information

• Race Date: Saturday, March 22, 2025
• Track: Fair Grounds Race Course
• Post Time: 5:42 p.m. Central Daylight Time
• Distance: 1 3/16 miles
• Age/Sex: three-year-olds
• Where to Watch: FanDuel TV, CNBC
• Where to Bet: FanDuel Racing

Louisiana Derby Odds

These are the entrants for the 2025 Louisiana Derby, including post positions, trainers, jockeys, and official morning-line odds for each horse.

Louisiana Derby Prep Results

The ten entrants for the Louisiana Derby come out of seven different races. Fittingly, the race with the most last-out runners is the Risen Star on February 15, the final local prep for the Louisiana Derby. Though Risen Star winner Magnitude is injured and off the Derby trail, the next three across the line all return in the Louisiana Derby: Chunk of Gold, Built, and Vassimo.

Two others come into the Louisiana Derby from the Rebel (G2) on February 23, the second-to-last prep at Oaklawn. Both will have to bounce back from off-the-board finishes, however: Tiztastic was fifth behind Coal Battle that day, while Hypnus was seventh.

Another pair comes into the Louisiana Derby out of ungraded Kentucky Derby points races. John Hancock won the Sam F. Davis last out on February 8; the race graded out well when second-place Owen Almighty came back to win the Tampa Bay Derby (G3). Caldera races for the first time since missing by a nose in the Sunland Derby on February 16.

Three others come into the Louisiana Derby out of non-stakes engagements, going 1 1/16 miles at Fair Grounds. Instant Replay and Furio ran 1-2 in an allowance-optional claiming race on February 17 at Fair Grounds, and will both make their stakes debut in the Louisiana Derby. Yinzer steps up off of a maiden special weight win on February 15 and faces winners for the first time in this.

Louisiana Derby Contenders

This is the field for the 2025 Louisiana Derby, organized by post position:

1. John Hancock: He has raced just twice, but has yet to set a hoof wrong. He graduated on debut in a sprint at Tampa Bay Downs, then stretched out to win the Sam F. Davis in game fashion. It’s a positive sign that the horse he beat in the Sam F. Davis, Owen Almighty, came back to win the Tampa Bay Derby. However, he is a speed horse who drew the fence and has a lot of speed outside of him. To his credit he has handled relatively inside posts before and gets top big-race jockey Flavien Prat. But, be careful at short odds.
2. Chunk of Gold: Though his only win in three starts came in maiden company sprinting at Turfway, he chased on for second in both the Leonatus and the Risen Star. His Risen Star second was a step up pacewise, though there is still the question of what he beat since he was 9 ¾ lengths behind long shot winner Magnitude, who came out of the race injured and therefore has not run back. His ability to pass horses should help, though, as should his stamina pedigree.
3. Tiztastic: His only two victories have come on the grass at Kentucky Downs last year, though he has earned a minor share of Kentucky Derby points in all four Derby-trail tries since. He has never looked a winner in any of those races, but has at least chased on with some interest to gain that minor award. Given that he’ll have something to run at in this spot, he may well be able to do that again.
4. Yinzer: It took him four starts to break his maiden, but he finally did that last out at Fair Grounds, when he shot to the lead and was clear at every call. The pedigree has some distance appeal, but the waters get much deeper for this, as not only does he face winners for the first time but now he is in a stakes race against multiple foes who have shown pace.
5. Caldera: This D. Wayne Lukas charge stepped up from a maiden win at Oaklawn to the Sunland Derby, where he missed by only a nose to Getaway Car. It looked good against that field, though Getaway Car underperformed in the Virginia Derby last week, leaving open the question of what Caldera actually beat. However, it is a positive point that Caldera is pace-versatile: he wired his maiden win two back, but rallied from a few lengths off the pace for his battle at Sunland.
6. Built: He was a runaway winner of the Gun Runner, Fair Grounds’ first points race of the season, back in December. He has hit the board in his next two races, though was no actual threat when third in the Risen Star. The same question looms with him and Chunk of Gold, about what they finished behind in the Risen Star. His pedigree interests for the extra distance, though also suggests he may need even a little more time yet to grow into that, and even though the blinkers are an interesting change, it’s a change with which trainer Wayne Catalano tends to underperform.
7. Vassimo: He was a well-beaten fourth in the Risen Star, his graded-stakes debut on Feb. 15. It was a really weird trip that day, too, where he looked like he was emptying out midrace but ran on again. Perhaps the blinkers will keep him more focused on his job, and first-time blinkers is a move with which trainer Todd Pletcher wins 19% of the time. With the tactical speed he showed in his first two starts, as well as his appealing stamina pedigree, he still has some upside.
8. Furio: He was second in a top-shelf allowance on February 17 over this course, his first start against winners. That day, he set the pace but was no match for Instant Replay late. Here, he may be fast enough to get the lead, but he’ll have to really gun it with foes like John Hancock and Yinzer down inside him. He is lightly enough raced to improve, but this looks like a tough spot in which to demand a move forward.
9. Instant Replay: He makes his stakes debut after winning a quality allowance race last out in last-to-first fashion. He did get a fast pace to close into that day, but he looks likely to get a similar setup in the Louisiana Derby, too. This start also has him second off the lay, liable to improve. Brad Cox and Florent Geroux are connections you can trust in big races at Fair Grounds, and his pedigree is a positive sign for the step up to 1 3/16 miles.
10. Hypnus: He broke his maiden in the Fair Grounds slop on January 18 and stepped right into stakes company for the Rebel. He was a no-threat seventh that day behind Coal Battle. Kenny McPeek saw enough to keep him in stakes company, which makes sense off the fast maiden win. The question is whether he can repeat his maiden win on fast dirt—but if he can, he’s another who should be able to benefit from the likely sharp pace early, and do so at a price.

Louisiana Derby Past Winners Past Performances

The Risen Star is king of the prep races for the Louisiana Derby. In the last ten years, six of the winners of the Louisiana Derby came out of the second-to-last of Fair Grounds’ Kentucky Derby prep races. All ran well, though not all won. International Star (2015), Gun Runner (2016), Girvin (2017), and Epicenter (2022) took top honors, whereas Noble Indy (2018) and Catching Freedom (2024) ran third.

It is worth noting that no horse in the last ten years has come straight from the Lecomte, or even a Fair Grounds race on Lecomte day, to win the Louisiana Derby. Though By My Standards (2019) came from a maiden race at Fair Grounds to win this race, that maiden win came on the Risen Star undercard.

Just three of the last ten winners of the Louisiana Derby did not last run at Fair Grounds. Two of them came out of Kentucky Derby points races: Wells Bayou (2020) had finished second in the Southwest (G3) at Oaklawn, and Hot Rod Charlie (2021) was third in the Robert B. Lewis. Kingsbarns (2023) came out of an allowance win at Tampa Bay Downs about a month and a half before the Louisiana Derby.

Louisiana Derby Undercard

The Louisiana Derby is the 12th and final race on Saturday’s card at Fair Grounds Race Course, and the last of eight stakes scheduled for the day. Kentucky Oaks bound fillies take center stage in the $400,000 Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), handicap males contest the New Orleans Classic (G2), and older turf horses take the spotlight in the Muniz Memorial Classic (G2).

Ungraded stakes include the $150,000 Tom Benson Memorial for older turf fillies and mares, as well as three undercard events for Louisiana-bred horses. With big fields and top-class horses all day long, it is a perfect time to watch FanDuel TV all day long and place your bets with FanDuel!

Fair Grounds History

The first races at what was then the Louisiana Race Course were organized by Bernard de Marigny and others in 1839 and 1839. It was reopened as Union Race Course in 1852 but closed after five years because the nearby Metairie Course proved more popular at the time. It was renamed yet again in 1859 as the Creole Race Course, then was first given the name Fair Grounds in 1963. It continued to host horse racing during the Civil War.

That was not the end of the closing and opening of the course, though. It closed again after the Civil War when Metairie reopened. Still, some members of the Metairie Jockey Club broke away, re-formed the Louisiana Jockey Club, and restarted racing at Fair Grounds in 1872.

Racing was banned in New Orleans in 1908, though it returned in 1915. Though the track was in jeopardy after being sold to developers in 1940, racing-minded investors saved the track from certain destruction in 1941 and ensured horse racing would continue after World War II.

A stable period followed, and in 1981, the turf course was laid, and then the facility was sold in 1990. Following a devastating fire, a new grandstand had to be built in 1994 at a cost of $27 million, a grand reopening taking place on Thanksgiving Day 1997.

Although further damaged by Hurricane Katrina, another Thanksgiving Day reopening occurred in 2006, and since then, the track has run on an even keel and remains popular with traditional racegoers.

Louisiana Derby FAQ

Q: When is the Louisiana Derby?

A: The 2025 Louisiana Derby happens Saturday, March 22, at 5:42 p.m. Central Daylight Time. It is the 12th and final race on the card at Fair Grounds.

Q: Where is the Louisiana Derby?

A: It takes place at Fair Grounds Race Course in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Q: Which trainer has the most wins in the Louisiana Derby?

A: Todd Pletcher leads all trainers with five wins. He won it in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2018, and 2023. He can extend that record if Vassimo wins in 2025.

Q: Who is the favorite for the 2025 Louisiana Derby?

A: Coming off a hard-fought win over Owen Almighty in the Sam F. Davis, John Hancock is the 7-2 morning-line favorite in the 2025 Louisiana Derby. However, there may be betting action on Built (4-1), the second choice on the morning line, due to his local form, or even on impressive allowance winner Instant Replay (6-1), who comes from the barn of Brad Cox, a trainer who always takes money.

Q: Who is the best Louisiana Derby jockey?

A: The now-retired jockey Pat Day rode the winner five times. Among jockeys with a horse in the 2025 edition of the race, Florent Geroux, Flavien Prat, and Joel Rosario each have two wins, the most in the field. Geroux rides Instant Replay, Prat rides John Hancock, and Rosario takes the call on Tiztastic.

Q: Who won the 2024 Louisiana Derby?

A: Catching Freedom won the 2024 Louisiana Derby for trainer Brad Cox and jockey Flavien Prat. Prat and Cox reunite with morning-line favorite John Hancock in 2025, and Cox also trains Instant Replay, ridden by Florent Geroux.

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