Santa Anita Derby 2022: Morning line odds, picks and predictions for Kentucky Derby prep race

The 2022 Santa Anita Derby is back this weekend from Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California on Saturday, April 9th as we get closer to next month’s Kentucky Derby. The post time for the race is set for 5:45 p.m. ET.

Saturday’s race could be a good indication on who has the best chance at winning the Kentucky Derby. The Santa Anita Derby winner has won the Kentucky Derby 11 times previously, and in what should be a wide-open year for three-year-olds we can start to see some separation of the best horses.

This looks to be a two-horse race from the middle, with Forbidden Kingdom and the chalk Messier. Kingdom has won three of five career starts, including his last two outings, both Grade 2 victories at Santa Anita. Messier is 3-for-6 lifetime, including a win in Santa Anita’s G3 Robert B. Lewis Stakes in February last time in the chute.

Three of the horses in this race, Taiba, Messier and Armagnac. had been trained by Bob Baffert who is ineligible for the Kentucky Derby in 2022 and 2023 due to Medina Spirit’s 2021 disqualification. All three have been training with Tim Yakteen instead.

2022 Santa Anita Derby post positions with morning line

1: Happy Jack, 20-1
2: Armagnac, 20-1
3: Forbidden Kingdom, 6-5
4: Messier, 1-1
5: Win the Day, 20-1
6: Taiba, 4-1