Publisher provides a local touch to 151st Running of the Roses

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — If anyone wants a local horse to back in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, check out Publisher.

Owned by Gus King of Arab, owner of Colormasters and Gunter’s Landing, with the estate of Brereton Jones, Publisher is a three-year-old colt with a strong pedigree.

He was sired by 2015 Triple Crown winner American Pharoah out of the Proud Citizen mare Indian Pride. Proud Citizen was the 2002 Derby runner-up.

Publisher is a maiden, meaning he has never won a race and a maiden has never won the Run for the Roses since Brokers Tip in 1933.

He comes into the race at 30-1 odds. Post time for the 151st running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs is 5:57 p.m. Central Time.

Early projections suggest Saturday’s run like several recent editions, will have a fast, contested pace. That will benefit the likes of a closer like Publisher, who could enter the frame, if he is good enough and gets the right trip beforehand.

Publisher, who qualified for the Kentucky Derby by his second-place finish at the Arkansas Derby. is trained by Steve Asmussen. The Hall of Fame inductee has won close to 11,000 races, making him the winningest trainer in North American history.

However, he is looking for his first Kentucky Derby win, as is jockey Ired Ortiz Jr.

While Asmussen will also have a more highly regarded contender in Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Tiztastic, the irony of a possible upset by Publisher isn’t lost on Asmussen.

“Maybe both of us can break our maiden in the Derby,” Asmussen told kentuckyderby.com after a recent workout by Publisher. “He’s still capable of more.”