The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of one and a quarter miles (2.0 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.
Mr. Prospector was a Thoroughbred racehorse who became an outstanding breeding stallion and notable sire of sires. A sprinter whose career was cut short by repeated injuries, he won seven of his 14 starts, including the Gravesend Handicap at Aqueduct Racetrack and the Whirlaway Handicap at Garden State Park.
Birdstone is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2004 Belmont Stakes and has become a successful sire.
Giacomo is an American Thoroughbred race horse and sire best known for winning the 2005 Kentucky Derby.
Unbridled was a Champion American Thoroughbred racehorse. Unbridled retired with a career record of eight wins, six places and six shows in 24 starts, and $4,489,475 in career earnings, including victories in the 1990 Kentucky Derby and Breeders' Cup Classic. Unbridled had a rivalry with Summer Squall over their three- and four-year-old seasons. Summer Squall defeated Unbridled in four of their six meetings.
Todd Pletcher is an American thoroughbred horse trainer. He won the Eclipse Award seven times as Trainer of the Year, four of these in consecutive years. His horses Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017) won the Kentucky Derby. He also won the Belmont Stakes with Rags to Riches (2007), Palace Malice (2013) and Tapwrit (2017).
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 second 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.
The 2009 Kentucky Derby was the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby. The value of the race was $2,177,000 in stakes. The race was sponsored by Yum! Brands and hence officially was called Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands. The race took place on May 2, 2009, and was televised in the United States on the NBC television network. The Atlanta-based Southern Tourism Society named the Kentucky Derby Festival, which was April 11 to May 1, as one of the top tourist attractions in the Southeast for the first half of 2009. The post time was 6:24 p.m. EDT. The official attendance at Churchill Downs was 153,563.
Mine That Bird is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who had a racing career in both Canada and the United States from 2008 to 2010. He is best known for pulling off a monumental upset, at 50-to-1 odds, by winning the Kentucky Derby in 2009. He became one of only nine geldings to win the Kentucky Derby and the second gelding to win the race since 1929. He continued to have success in the two remaining races of the American Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing by finishing second in the 2009 Preakness Stakes and third in the 2009 Belmont Stakes. On November 6, 2010, Mine That Bird was retired from racing after being winless in nine starts following the Kentucky Derby. He amassed $2,228,637 in earnings and won five of eighteen starts during his three-year racing career. Mine That Bird was inducted into the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 2015.
Summer Bird was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse, son of 2004 Belmont Stakes winner Birdstone. He was bred by retired cardiologist Kalarikkal Jayaraman and his wife, retired pathologist Vilasini Jayaraman, at their Tiffany Farm near Ocala, Florida. On June 3, 2010, Summer Bird was retired due to complications of a previous injury.
Quality Road is an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Lookin At Lucky is an American Thoroughbred racehorse and winner of the 2010 Preakness Stakes. Sired by Smart Strike, a half brother to Canadian Triple Crown Winner Dance Smartly, his dam, Private Feeling, was sired by Belong To Me by the North American Leading Sire of 1993, Danzig.
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. The stakes of the race were US$2,185,200. The race was sponsored by Yum! Brands and hence officially was called Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands.
Jose Lezcano is a jockey in American Thoroughbred horse racing. He rides in New York in the spring, summer and fall and spends the winter in Florida. His big break came in 2008 when he won a Breeders' Cup race.
The 2004 Kentucky Derby was the 130th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 1, 2004 and was won by Smarty Jones, who earned a $5 million bonus. There were 140,054 in attendance.
Drosselmeyer is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 2010 Belmont Stakes and the 2011 Breeders' Cup Classic.
Paddy O'Prado was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred by Winchell Thoroughbreds, he finished third in the 2010 Kentucky Derby. His regular jockey was Kent Desormeaux.
Animal Kingdom is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 137th Kentucky Derby and the 2013 Dubai World Cup. His Derby win took place on May 7, 2011, before a record crowd of 164,858. After the Derby, Animal Kingdom finished second in the Preakness Stakes and sixth in the Belmont Stakes before his career was disrupted by injury. He returned to finish second in the 2012 Breeders' Cup Mile before winning the Dubai World Cup as a five-year-old in 2013. Animal Kingdom is the first Kentucky Derby winner to win a Grade 1 race at the age of five. He has won Grade 1 races on both dirt and synthetic surfaces.
Shackleford is a retired chestnut Thoroughbred race horse who is best known for winning the 2011 Preakness Stakes. He also finished second in the 2011 Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile and won both the Metropolitan and Clark Handicaps in 2012.
Ruler on Ice is a Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 2011 Belmont Stakes. He was bred and foaled in Kentucky by Brandywine Farm in partnership with Liberation Farm on. He is a chestnut gelding sired by Hill 'n' Dale Farms' Roman Ruler out of the Saratoga Six-bred mare, Champagne Glow. The colt was consigned as lot 988 at the 2009 Keeneland September yearling auction, where he was purchased by George and Lori Hall for $100,000. Ruler on Ice only won one minor race after winning the Belmont and was retired from racing in July 2014. He lives in Versailles, Kentucky at the farm of his owners.
