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Right to Party profile: 2026 Kentucky Derby odds, post position, history and more to know

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CitrixNews Staff
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Right to Party profile: 2026 Kentucky Derby odds, post position, history and more to know
Right to Party profile: 2026 Kentucky Derby odds, post position, history and more to know By Apr 30, 2026 at 7:50 am ET • 2 min read derby8cbs.jpg USATSI

His name pays homage to the classic 1986 Beastie Boys anthem "Fight For Your Right,"and Saturday night would certainly be party time for trainer Ken McPeek, jockey Christopher Elliott and people who back Right to Party if the 30-1 longshot crosses the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby. Bet Right to Party and the entire Kentucky Derby at TwinSpires, where new users who click through our links get a supersized $400 sign-up bonus:

5 Right to Party (30-1)

  • Trainer: Ken McPeek
  • Jockey: Christopher Elliott
  • Last race: Second in the Wood Memorial by 1¼ lengths
  • Career record: 4 starts: 1 win, 1 second, 2 thirds
  • Career earnings: $230,200
  • Best career Beyer Speed Figure: 81 (Wood Memorial)
  • Sire: Constitution

Below, we'll dig further into Right to Party as part of our series profiling all the horses competing in the 152nd Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 2. We'll look back into his past performances, what questions need to be answered Saturday and analyze how the post draw affects his chances.

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What to know about Right to Party

People who bet the Kentucky Derby based on colors, numbers or names may find Right to Party an attractive choice, but there's no traditional handicapping theory that says he's even remotely a contender. 

The fact is that this late-running closer is too slow. His best Beyer Speed Figure of 81, which he earned when finishing second in the Wood Memorial, is the slowest in the field. The next-slowest career-best Beyer in the Derby field is 84 (Albus and Great White).

One could make the case that Right to Party is coming off his best career performance, and that would be fair. But he ran a 75 Beyer in his career debut in December, so the colt has made little, if any, improvement as a 3-year-old. 

In the Wood Memorial, Right to Party and the other closers in the race got the pace meltdown they needed up front. That scenario would normally produce a big Beyer for a quality field, but the winner, Albus, received just an 84.

It's very possible the Wood was, once again, a terrible race. Over the last two decades, the Wood Memorial has been the least productive of the major Kentucky Derby prep races. No Derby winner has come from the Wood since Funny Cide in 2003.

Right to Party's trainer, Ken McPeek, won the Kentucky Derby two years ago with Mystik Dan, but that horse was much more accomplished than Right to Party entering the Run for the Roses. 

With the catchy name, the horse may get bet by hunch players to the point that he'll be an underlay at FanDuel RacingTwinSpires and 1/ST BETClaim our jumbo-sized 1/ST BET offer here to get a $500 sign-up bonus:

Post draw analysis

Right to Party has been last or next-to-last early in each of his four career starts, and there's no reason to think he will change his running style on Saturday. From this No. 5 post position, 20-year-old jockey Christopher Elliott, the son of 2004 Kentucky Derby-winning jockey Stewart Elliott, will allow Right to Party to drop back and come with one late run again. Elliott and Right to Party will need a massive pace meltdown to even have a chance at making an impact on the race.

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Originally reported by CBS Sports