Picks and plays for the 2026 Kentucky Derby undercard

Saturday’s Kentucky Derby Day card at Churchill Downs is packed from start to finish with high-quality and competitive races.

The numerous graded stakes will attract the most attention from bettors, but a couple of non-stakes events early in the day also warrant playing.

Here are a few of my picks for the 2026 Kentucky Derby undercard races:

Churchill Downs: Race 1: Maiden Special Weight (1 1/16 miles on dirt, 11:00 a.m. ET)

The kickoff event on the card looks ripe for conquest by #11 Powershift (3-1), a promising three-year-old conditioned by Hall of Fame trainer Todd Pletcher.

Powershift has knocked heads with fierce competition in his first two starts. He debuted in a one-mile and 40-yard maiden special weight at Tampa Bay Downs, finishing second by three-quarters of a length against next-out Louisiana Derby (G2) winner Emerging Market. Then in the 1 1/16-mile Tampa Bay Derby (G3), Powershift finished sixth behind subsequent Florida Derby (G1) runner-up The Puma and next-out Blue Grass (G1) winner Further Ado.

Emerging Market, The Puma, and Further Ado are all well-regarded contenders in the Kentucky Derby. Powershift is taking a huge class drop while returning to the maiden special weight ranks, so we’ll bet him to win and single him to start a daily double.

• $30 to win on #11 Powershift
• $20 Double: 11 with 8
  Total: $50

Churchill Downs: Race 2: $125,000 Allowance Optional Claiming (1 1/16 miles on dirt, 11:32 a.m. ET)

I loved the performance #8 Taptastic (3-1) delivered when debuting in a one-mile maiden special weight at Oaklawn Park. He had to wait in traffic behind a slow pace for much of the race, but down the homestretch, he slipped through along the rail and blazed his final furlong in :11.77 to beat a next-out winner by 1 1/2 lengths.

Taptastic subsequently ran even better in the 1 1/8-mile Arkansas Derby (G1), finishing third behind Kentucky Derby favorite Renegade. Dropping in class for his third start should make Taptastic tough to beat, so we’ll single him to conclude our daily double and bet him to win for good measure.

• $20 to win on #8 Taptastic

Churchill Downs: Race 8: Pat Day Mile (G2, one mile on dirt, 3:23 p.m. ET)

#6 Crude Velocity (5-2) is unbeaten in two starts for Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert. After beating the Grade 1-placed Civil Liberty in a 6 1/2-furlong maiden special weight, Crude Velocity smashed a 6 1/2-furlong $50,000 allowance optional claimer by 6 3/4 lengths, earning a powerful 103 Brisnet Speed rating.

None of the other Pat Day Mile entrants has earned a Brisnet Speed rating higher than 97. Crude Velocity looks like a star in the making, so let’s key him over the unbeaten #1 Englishman (3-1) and the graded stakes-placed #4 Secured Freedom (20-1) in exacta tickets.

• $20 Exacta: 6 with 1
• $10 Exacta: 6 with 4
  Total: $30

Good luck!