2010 Kentucky Derby

Last updated
136th Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby
2010kyderbylogo.png
Official logo for the 2010 Kentucky Derby
Location Churchill Downs
DateMay 1, 2010
Winning horse Super Saver
Winning time2:04.45
Starting price 8-1
Jockey Calvin Borel
Trainer Todd Pletcher
Owner WinStar Farm
Conditions Sloppy
SurfaceDirt
Attendance155,804 [1]
  2009
2011  

The 2010 Kentucky Derby was the 136th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 1, 2010, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The post time was 6:32 p.m. EDT (10:32 p.m. UTC). The stakes of the race were US$2,185,200. [2] The race was sponsored by Yum! Brands and hence officially was called Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. [2]

Contents

Super Saver won the race with Calvin Borel as jockey. Borel became the first jockey to win three Kentucky Derby titles in a four-year span. Ice Box, Paddy O'Prado and Make Music for Me finished second, third and fourth, respectively. Attendance was listed at 155,804, making it the sixth-largest in Derby history. [1] Total betting exceeded US$ 30 million for the main pool, and US$21 million for the exacta. [3]

Payout

"And they're coming down to the finish, and it is ... Super Saver ... a late run from Ice Box, but it's Super Saver and Calvin Borel, the unflappable Calvin Borel, riding that rail to victory once again in the Kentucky Derby!"

NBC Sports race announcer Tom Durkin calling the end of the race
The 136th Kentucky Derby Payout Schedule
Program
Number
Horse Name
Win
Place
Show
4 Super Saver $18.00$8.80$6.00
2 Ice Box -$11.20$8.00
10 Paddy O'Prado --$7.40

The field

After early favorite Eskendereya was withdrawn due to a swollen leg the week prior to the 2010 Kentucky Derby, the field was left with no clear favorite. [4] Lookin At Lucky was the race-time favorite based on his strong form at age two (Del Mar Futurity, Norfolk Stakes and CashCall Futurity), but only at odds of 6–1 against victory. Those odds tied the highest odds for a favorite in the history of the Derby. [4] Super Saver, who had won the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes at two and finished second in the Arkansas Derby, went off at odds of 8–1. [5] Post positions were drawn Thursday, April 29, 2010. [6]

Results

In what was considered "the most wide-open Derby in years", [4] Super Saver hit the lead at the top of the stretch and held on to win the 136th Kentucky Derby. [4] Jockey Calvin Borel captured his third Derby win in the last four years, while trainer Todd Pletcher picked up his first Derby victory in 25 tries. [4]

Procession to the starting gate. The field of the 2010 Kentucky Derby.jpg
Procession to the starting gate.

The track was wet and sloppy due to rain the previous night and nearly all day on Derby Day. After a windy, rain-soaked day at Churchill Downs, the sun came out just shortly before race time. The winning time was 2:04.45, and the margin of victory was listed as 2+12 lengths. [1] [4] Trained by Nick Zito, Ice Box came from well back in the pack to narrowly beat Paddy O'Prado for second place.

Super Saver started the day as the second favorite behind Lookin At Lucky. Coming out of the No. 4 gate, Borel immediately broke towards the inside rail, a strategy he often employs. [4] He then pulled the horse back, rounding the final turn in fourth place, and charged to victory along the rail, holding off the impressive late charge from Ice Box on the sloppy track. It was the horse's first victory since winning the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes as a two-year-old. [7] Pre-race favorite Lookin At Lucky was hampered by drawing the No. 1 post. He was pinned on the rail early and did not get adequate running room until it was too late, finishing sixth. [8]

FinishPostHorse nameTrainerJockeyMorning
odds [3]
Final odds
to $1 [2]
Earnings
14 Super Saver Todd Pletcher Calvin Borel 158$1,425,200
22 Ice Box Nick Zito Jose Lezcano 1011.7$400,000
310 Paddy O'Prado Dale Romans Kent Desormeaux 2012.3$200,000
49Make Music for Me Alexis Barba Joel Rosario 5030$100,000
53 Noble's Promise Kenny McPeek Willie Martinez 1224.9$60,000
61 Lookin at Lucky Bob Baffert Garrett Gomez 36.3
717Dublin D. Wayne Lukas Terry J. Thompson 1220
86 Stately Victor Michael Maker Alan Garcia 3020.2
914Mission Impazible Todd Pletcher Rajiv Maragh 2016.7
1011 Devil May Care Todd Pletcher John Velazquez 1010.9
117American Lion Eoin Harty David Flores 3023.2
1213 Jackson Bend Nick Zito Mike E. Smith 1523
1315 Discreetly Mine Todd Pletcher Javier Castellano 3031.6
148Dean's Kitten Michael Maker Robby Albarado 5025.7
1512Conveyance Bob Baffert Martin Garcia 1227
1619 Homeboykris Richard Dutrow, Jr. Ramon Dominguez 5027
1720 Sidney's Candy John W. Sadler Joe Talamo 59.5
185Line of David John W. Sadler Rafael Bejarano 3019.9
1916 Awesome Act Jeremy Noseda Julien Leparoux 1011.6
2018 Backtalk Thomas M. Amoss Miguel Mena 5023.1

Exotic wager

Brian Palmer used the "successful $1 bet on the superfecta" in the 2010 Kentucky Derby that "paid a whopping $101,284.60" as an example of the controversial high-risk, high-payout exotic bets that were observed by track-watchers since the 1970s. Palmer compared these horse racing bets to the controversial emerging exotic financial instruments that concerned then-chairman of the Federal Reserve Paul Volcker in 1980. He argued that just as the exotic wagers survived the media controversy so will the exotic options. [9]

Subsequent Grade I wins

Although Super Saver never won another race, [5] several entries recorded subsequent Grade I wins:

Subsequent breeding careers

Leading progeny of participants in the 2010 Kentucky Derby are as follows:

Lookin at Lucky (6th)

Super Saver (1st)

Sources: American Classic Pedigrees, Equibase, Blood-Horse Stallion Register

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Tom Luicci (May 1, 2010). "Kentucky Derby Notebook: Lookin At Lucky, Ice Box run into trouble". The Star-Ledger. NJ.com. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "11th Race, Churchill Downs, May 1, 2010". drf.com. Daily Racing Form. 2010-05-01. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-01.
  3. 1 2 "Kentucky Derby 2010 Live Odds". KentuckyDerby.com. 1 May 2010. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2010.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Harris, Beth (May 1, 2010). "Super Saver wins Kentucky Derby with Borel aboard". Associated Press. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  5. 1 2 "Super Saver profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  6. Privman, Jay (2010-04-29). "Lookin At Lucky draws the rail". ESPN. Archived from the original on 30 April 2010. Retrieved 2010-04-30.
  7. "Super Derby for Pletcher, Borel". KentuckyDerby.com. Bisnet.com. May 1, 2010. Archived from the original on 3 May 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  8. Jeffrey McMurray (May 1, 2010). "Nothing lucky about Derby favorite Lookin At Lucky". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 5 May 2010. Retrieved May 1, 2010.
  9. Palmer, Brian (14 July 2010). "Why Do We Call Financial Instruments "Exotic"? Because some of them are from Japan". Slate. Retrieved 9 August 2013.
  10. "Devil May Care profile". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 25 April 2020.
  11. "Lookin at Lucky". www.equibase.com. Retrieved 25 April 2020.