Kentucky Derby entrant Chief Wallabee works out at Churchill Downs on Thursday in Louisville, Ky. (AP photo)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The chaos at the start of the Kentucky Derby sometimes decides the most exciting two minutes in sports in a matter of seconds. Twenty horses bursting out of the starting gate to varying degrees of success makes it a mad dash to the turn.

Calling the race on television for NBC, Larry Collmus typically focuses on the favorite. This year presents a challenge.

“I don’t know who the favorite is going to be,” Collmus said. “I guess we’ll find out. It’s wide open this year.”

Todd Pletcher-trained Renegade opened as the favorite, but it could just as easily be Brad Cox’s Commandment or Further Ado or Bill Mott’s Chief Wallabee by the time the field of 20 leaves the gate. The first leg of the Triple Crown is so wide open that at least a half-dozen horses have a legitimate chance to win the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby today. Post time has been listed as 6:57 p.m. EDT.

“There’s a lot of different ways you could go if you were handicapping this race,” said Chad Brown, the trainer of Emerging Market. “You could really make an argument at this point for maybe half the horses in the field if they ran their very, very best race and had a good trip that could win this race.”

Renegade on rail

Renegade was set as the 4-1 favorite on the morning line, but last weekend he drew the inside No. 1 post position on the rail. No horse has won the Derby from there since Ferdinand in 1986.

“It’s not the one we would have chosen,” Pletcher said. “It’s not ideal, but it’s what we got and we’ll do the best we can with it.”

When Pletcher watched replays of every race since the new starting gate was introduced in 2020, he thought his horses and others on the rail were negatively affected and their chances compromised. The last horse to break from the very inside to finish in the money was Lookin At Lee in 2017.

Cox’s trio now a duo

Cox entered three horses but is down to two after ruling out Fulleffort on Thursday because of a chip in the colt’s left hind ankle. Mark Casse’s Silent Tactic and Kenny McPeek’s Right to Party were also scratched, putting Great White, Ocelli and Robusta into the field on the far outside.

Commandment and Further Ado each has shown the ability to finish first in this deep class of 3-year-olds. Commandment has won four in a row, including the Florida Derby, while Further Ado bounced back from a lengthy absence and won the Blue Grass Stakes.

They will now face rivals who have thrived all over the country.

“There’s a lot of talent, obviously, coming from different regions, whether it’s California, Florida, Louisiana, New York,” Cox said. “I do feel like the horses in Florida were definitely the strongest region this year.”

Bob Baffert’s Potente was second to So Happy in the Santa Anita Derby in Southern California, and Litmus Test comes from Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.

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AP horse racing: https://apnews.com/hub/horse-racing