Kentucky Derby 2024: Horse Positions Put Sierra Leone’s Odds of Winning $5 Million Race in Doubt

The absence of Bob Baffert from the 150th edition of the prestigious Kentucky Derby will have a far and wide impact on fans. But luckily, there are tons of other names who can offset the heartbreak for the fans next Saturday at the coveted G1 race. From the Gulfstream Park Grade 2 Fountain of Youth Stakes winner Dornoch to this year’s Santa Anita Derby winner Stronghold. Contenders for the winning spot at the Kentucky Derby 2024 are aplenty, but fans are concerned over another mighty horse’s chances of pulling off something truly impressive.

Winning the $1 million dollar Blue Grass Stakes, Sierra Leone put the world at attention with his incredible performance earlier this month. Since then, fans have speculated hard about the brown horse’ potential to edge past the likes of Dornoch in Kentucky next month. But a new trouble on the horizon might be making things difficult.

Tough luck for the Kentucky Derby 2024 contender

In the Subreddit r/horseracing, a thread about Sierra Leone’s possibility to win the Kentucky Derby has been opened up, with fans pouring in to make their thoughts heard. An image shared by Redditor boopboopitsahop shows the post positions for the morning line and their respective odds. As fans noticed Sierra Leone in position 2, things got murky about hopes about the horse etching its name among the elites.

2024 Kentucky Derby Post Positions & Morning Line Odds
byu/boopboopitsashoop inhorseracing

“sierra leone was my pick but have to reevaluate now“, said the same user in the comment section, reflecting the tumultuous state of mind of many others like them. And surely enough, others didn’t hold back on the collective sigh to express their disappointment at Sierra Leone’s prospects.

More horse racing fans weigh in

Another Redditor gu3ss_what had to elaborate for the uninitiated: “That inside post position at 2 causes a disadvantage because it gets squeezed against the railing out of the gate“. However, considering that Sierra Leone subdued some true heavyweights on his way to the Blue Grass Stakes first-place finish, many would argue that his fighting chance is still there.

Comment
byu/boopboopitsashoop from discussion
inhorseracing

Thinking on similar lines, one fan commented that Sierra Leone’s performance at the 150th Derby will depend heavily on his composure. For those who have an idea about the bigger set of things that the hose will be running for next weekend, the comment “2 isn’t great but his race is 100% dependent on trip and traffic and his composure. This shouldn’t impact what he does at all“, by materialAd1995 will resonate with effectively.

Comment
byu/boopboopitsashoop from discussion
inhorseracing

The son of the celebrated Gun Runner will still have to face a steep climb, noted another fan as they highlighted what Position 2 brings to the table. “That inside post position at 2 causes a disadvantage because it gets squeezed against the railing out of the gate“, reminded their comment.

Comment
byu/boopboopitsashoop from discussion
inhorseracing

NikeTennis13 believes it won’t be just the Risen Star winner who will have to mitigate the posts. “Idk I feel posts are bad for fierceness, Dornoch, and Sierra Leone“, noted the fan’s statement.

Comment
byu/boopboopitsashoop from discussion
inhorseracing

This fan can’t cope with the fact that both Dornoch and Sierra Leone had to be at the brunt of things at one of the most historic editions of the Kentucky Derby.

Comment
byu/boopboopitsashoop from discussion
inhorseracing

Who will you be rooting for, come Saturday? Tell us your pick in the comments!