The Kentucky Derby is an American Grade I stakes race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.
Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex located on Central Avenue in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States, famed for hosting the annual Kentucky Derby. It officially opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first Kentucky Derby, a Thoroughbred sweepstakes and part of today's horse racing Triple Crown, and the first Kentucky Oaks were held in the same year. Churchill Downs has also hosted the renowned Breeders' Cup on nine occasions, most recently on November 2 and 3, 2018.
Oliver Lewis (1856–1924) was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing. On May 17, 1875, Lewis won the very first Kentucky Derby aboard Aristides. The pair won by a reported two lengths, setting a new American record time for a mile-and-a-half race. Lewis and Aristides took second place in the Belmont Stakes, which is now the third race of the U.S. Triple Crown series. He is the great great grandfather of actor Rodney Van Johnson.
James Winkfield was a Thoroughbred jockey and horse trainer from Kentucky, best remembered as the last African American to ride a winner in the Kentucky Derby (1902).
Calvin H. Borel is an American jockey in thoroughbred horse racing and rode the victorious mount in the 2007 Kentucky Derby, the 2009 Kentucky Derby and the 2010 Kentucky Derby. His 2009 Derby win with Mine That Bird was the third biggest upset in Derby history,, and Borel's winning margin of 6+3⁄4 lengths was the greatest in Derby history since Assault won by 8 lengths in 1946. On May 1, 2009, Borel won the Kentucky Oaks aboard Rachel Alexandra, only the second time since 1993 that a jockey has won the Oaks-Derby combo, and just the seventh time overall a jockey has accomplished this feat in the same year. On May 16, 2009, Borel won the 2009 Preakness Stakes at Pimlico with thoroughbred filly Rachel Alexandra. In doing so, Borel became the first jockey to win the first two jewels of the Triple Crown on different mounts. Borel's nickname is "Bo'rail'" due to his penchant for riding close to the rail to save ground.
Victor Espinoza is a Mexican jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing who won the Triple Crown in 2015 on American Pharoah. He began riding in his native Mexico and went on to compete at racetracks in California. He has won the Kentucky Derby three times, riding War Emblem in 2002, California Chrome in 2014, and American Pharoah in 2015. He also won the Preakness Stakes three times, in those same years and with the same horses. He was the first jockey in history to enter the Belmont Stakes with a third opportunity to win the Triple Crown; his 2015 victory made him the oldest jockey and first Hispanic jockey to accomplish the feat. He joined Ron Turcotte as the only jockeys to win five of the six jewels of the Triple Crown spread over two consecutive years.
Roscoe Tarleton Goose was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing who was one of the inaugural class of inductees in the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame.
The Jimmy Winkfield Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Aqueduct Racetrack on Long Island, New York at the beginning of each year. The event is for three-year-olds and currently set at a distance of seven furlongs on the dirt.
In the United States, the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, commonly known as the Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for three-year-old Thoroughbreds, consisting of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. The three races were inaugurated in different years, the last being the Kentucky Derby in 1875. The Triple Crown Trophy, commissioned in 1950 but awarded to all previous winners as well as those after 1950, is awarded to a horse who wins all three races and is thereafter designated as a Triple Crown winner. The races are traditionally run in May and early June of each year, although global events have resulted in schedule adjustments, such as in 1945 and 2020.
Anna Rose "Rosie" Napravnik is a former American Thoroughbred horse racing jockey and two-time winner of the Kentucky Oaks. Beginning her career in 2005, she was regularly ranked among the top jockeys in North America in both earnings and total races won. By 2014 she had been in the top 10 by earnings three years in a row and was the highest-ranked woman jockey in North America. In 2011, she won the Louisiana Derby for her first time and was ninth in the 2011 Kentucky Derby with the horse Pants on Fire. In 2012 she broke the total wins and earnings record for a woman jockey previously held by Julie Krone, and became the first woman rider to win the Kentucky Oaks, riding Believe You Can. She won the Oaks for a second time in 2014 on Untapable. She is only the second woman jockey to win a Breeders' Cup race and the first to win more than one, having won the 2012 Breeders' Cup Juvenile on Shanghai Bobby and the 2014 Breeders' Cup Distaff on Untapable. Napravnik's fifth-place finish in the 2013 Kentucky Derby and third in the 2013 Preakness Stakes on Mylute are the best finishes for a woman jockey in those two Triple Crown races to date, and she is the only woman to have ridden in all three Triple Crown races.
His Eminence was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was bred in Kentucky and is best known for winning the 1901 Kentucky Derby. He was a bay colt sired by the great turf-racer Falsetto out of the mare Patroness. His dam was sold to Overton H. Chenault at the 1897 Woodburn Stud dispersal sale for $75. As a yearling, he was sold to J. B. Lewman for $500[1].
The 1910 Kentucky Derby was the 36th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 10, 1910, held at Churchill Downs racecourse in Louisville, Kentucky and was the first year in which the race times were counted in fifths of a second instead of quarters of a second in hopes of having a more accurate race duration time of the horses. The winning horse's name is Donau who was jockeyed by Frederick Herbert. Donau was awarded $4,850, second place horse received $700, and third place horse received $300.
The 1913 Kentucky Derby was the 39th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 10, 1913. The winning time of 2.04.80 set a new Derby record. With odds of 91–1, winning horse Donerail is the longest odds winner in Kentucky Derby history.
The 1973 Kentucky Derby was the 99th running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. Secretariat won the Derby in a record time of 1:59+2⁄5, 2+1⁄2 lengths ahead of Sham, while Our Native finished in third position. Of the thirteen horses that entered and started the race, all horses completed the event. The event was viewed in person by a then-record crowd of 134,476, while also being broadcast both on television and over the radio.
The 139th running of the Kentucky Derby commenced at 6:33 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) on May 4, 2013, at Churchill Downs. The race was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The favorite, Orb, won a purse of $1.4 million with a final time of 2:02.89, with Golden Soul finishing second and Revolutionary placing third.
The 2013 Preakness Stakes was the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes thoroughbred horse race. The race was held on May 18, 2013, and was televised on NBC. The race was won by Oxbow. The post time of the race was 6:18 p.m. EDT. The race was the 12th race on a card of 13 races. The Maryland Jockey Club reported total attendance of 117,203, the second highest attendance for American thoroughbred racing events in North America during 2013.
The 2019 Kentucky Derby was the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, May 4, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky. The field was open to 20 horses, who qualified for the race by earning points on the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Derby is held annually on the first Saturday in May, at the end of the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. It is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km), and has been run at Churchill Downs racetrack since its inception in 1875. The purse for 2019 was increased from US$2 million to US$3 million.
The 2020 Kentucky Derby was the 146th Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, September 5, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is one of the three legs of the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds. The Kentucky Derby was originally scheduled for the first Saturday of May, but the 2020 running was rescheduled to September 5, due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Kentucky. It was won by Authentic.
The 2020 Belmont Stakes was the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes and the 109th time the event took place at Belmont Park. It was run June 20, 2020, and was won by Tiz the Law, the first New York-bred winner of the event since Forester in 1882. The race is one of the three legs of the American Triple Crown, open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds.
The 2022 Kentucky Derby took place on Saturday, May 7, 2022, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. It was the 148th running of the Kentucky Derby, a 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km) Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds. The Derby is held annually at Churchill Downs on the first Saturday in May since its inception in 1875. The 20 horses that ran in the Derby qualified by earning points in the 2022 Road to the Kentucky Derby.
