2026 Santa Anita Derby odds, horses, field: Racing insider offers best bets, top picks for Saturday's Kentucky Derby prep race

West Coast-based horses will get their last chance to earn a spot in the Kentucky Derby when the starting gate opens in the 2026 Santa Anita Derby at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, Calif. Trainer Bob Baffert, who has won the Santa Anita Derby a record nine times, has the top two morning-line favorites. San Felipe Stakes winner Potente has been installed as the 2-1 favorite in the Santa Anita Derby odds, just ahead of stablemate Cherokee Nation (5-2). So Happy (7-2), Intrepido (7-2) and Robusta (8-1) round out the top five choices among the seven Santa Anita Derby horses. Post time for the Santa Anita Derby 2026 is 7:46 p.m. ET, with the forecast calling for temperatures in the mid-80s and no precipitation. 

With several talented horses entering the starting gate on Saturday, you NEED to see what Santa Anita-based racing reporter and insider Michelle Yu has to say before making any 2026 Santa Anita Derby picks given what she did last week.

Few people in racing are as well-connected as Yu. An on-air host and reporter who has provided racing analysis for TVG, HRTV and the Breeders' Cup, Yu has spent a lifetime in racing. Prior to her television career, she worked for trainers Steve Asmussen and Ron Moquett. She also is married to Santa Anita-based trainer Ryan Hanson.

Yu also has tremendous handicapping chops. She started off 2025 by correctly going all-in on Citizen Bull to win the Robert B. Lewis Stakes, and she also predicted Forever Young's win in the Saudi Cup, Journalism's win in the San Felipe Stakes, Sandman's win in the Arkansas Derby and Mindframe's win in the Churchill Downs Stakes. She also hit the exacta in the Kentucky Derby.

In August she hit the Fierceness-Journalism exacta in the Pacific Classic, and just last week she nailed the Renegade-Silent Tactic-Taptastic trifecta in the Arkansas Derby.

For the 2026 Santa Anita Derby, Yu has made her picks and constructed her bets. One surprise: She is completely fading Cherokee Nation, even though he is the 5-2 second choice. "His last race was brilliant, but he has competed against a few of these in stakes races before and been found lacking," Yu told SportsLine. She is not using Cherokee Nation in any wagers.

Instead Yu's top pick is a horse who has an "ability to move when asked." She also is high on a second horse who was "gutty" in his last start. She is including these horses in her 2026 Santa Anita Derby bets, and so should you. You ABSOLUTELY NEED to see her picks before locking in any of your own.

So which horse wins the 2026 Santa Anita Derby? What other horse is a must-back? And how has Yu constructed her wagers? ... Join SportsLine right now to get Michelle Yu's 2026 Santa Anita Derby picks and bets, all from the racing insider who nailed last week's Arkansas Derby trifecta!