LOUISVILLE, Kentucky (AP) — After he endured hoof and back injuries and a reluctance to train, things are looking up for Classic Empire .

The bay colt was made the early 5-1 favourite for the Kentucky Derby on Wednesday, with just four of the 20 horses listed at single digits in a wide-open race.

Classic Empire was idle for three months after winning the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile and being named two-year-old champion last year. He made his three-year-old debut with a third-place finish in the Holy Bull Stakes in February. Then came two more months off, and twice during that time the colt didn’t want to train.“It’s been a crazy road, but we’re right where we want to be,” trainer Mark Casse said.

Classic Empire restored Casse’s confidence in him by delivering a half-length victory in the Arkansas Derby in mid-April.“With the average horse, you couldn’t do what we have done,” Casse said. “You need so many things to go right, and the good news with this horse is he’s so talented he can overcome a lot.”

Classic Empire will break from the number 14 post tomorrow. Just two horses have won the Derby from there. The last was

Carry Back in 1961.

Classic Empire’s sire,

Pioneer of the Nile, finished second in the 2009 Derby.“We couldn’t be in a better place right now,” Casse said.Recent history is on

Classic Empire’s side too. The favourite has won the Derby each of the last four years. It’s the longest such streak since the 1970s.

Always Dreaming and

McCraken, a three-time winner at Churchill Downs, are co-second choices at 5-1.Trained by Todd Pletcher,

Always Dreaming drew the number 5 post, which has produced nine Derby winners, most recently California Chrome in 2014. Blue Grass Stakes winner McCraken will break from the number 15 hole. The last of five winners from there was Triple Crown champion

American Pharoah two years ago.

Irish War Cry is the fourth choice at 6-1 odds and drew the number 17 post. No horse has ever won from there, but trainer Graham Motion was pleased.“Being in the auxiliary gate keeps you in the clear, keeps you away from the craziness,” he said. “You don’t have to stand in the gate that long.”The main starting gate holds 14 horses and has a six-stall auxiliary gate that is attached. Horses are loaded into the gate two at a time, beginning with posts one and 11, which spend the most time waiting for the start.There are even bigger odds for bettors who like extreme long shots.

Untrapped,

State of Honor,

Battle of Midway, and

Patch, the one-eyed horse, are all at 30-1.

Patch, whose left eye was removed because of infection, drew the number 20 post on the far outside. He won’t be able to see the rest of the field to his left.“He’ll get to see the crowd when he leaves there,” Pletcher said.The longest odds in the field belong to

Fast And Accurate and

Sonneteer, both at 50-1.

Fast And Accurate is part-owned by Olympic skier Bode Miller.

Sonneteer has yet to win a race in his career. If he wins the Derby he’d be the first maiden to do so since

Brokers Tip in 1933.Doug O’Neill, who trained last year’s winner

Nyquist, is back with

Irap.A total of 22 horses were entered, two more than the maximum limit of 20.