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, the first time horses in the field race that distance. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.
Dark Star was an American thoroughbred racehorse and sire. During his racing career he won six races, most notably the 1953 Kentucky Derby, in which he defeated Native Dancer.
Prince Palatine (1908–1924) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. He was named for County Palatine of Lancaster near where his breeder William Hall Walker had been raised.
Plaudit (1895–1919) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. A descendant of English Triple Crown champion, West Australian, he was bred by Dr. John D. Neet, owner of Kindergarten Stud at Versailles, Kentucky. Plaudit is best known for winning the 1898 Kentucky Derby.
Elwood was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that is best remembered for winning the 1904 Kentucky Derby and for being the first horse both bred and owned by a woman to win the Derby.
Manuel (1896–1900) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse.
Sir Huon was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that was the winner of the 1906 Kentucky Derby and Latonia Derby. Sir Huon was named after a character in the German opera Oberon and was bred at George J. Long's stud farm, Bashford Manor Stable. He was sired by the great turf-racer Falsetto, who was greatly aged by then at near thirty years old, out of the mare Ignite.
Stone Street was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that is primarily remembered for winning the 1908 Kentucky Derby. He was a bay colt sired by Longstreet out of the mare Stone Nellie. His grandsire was the great racer and top nineteenth century sire Longfellow, himself a son of the important foundation sire Leamington. Stone Street was bred by noted horseman James Ben Ali Haggin, who had won the Derby in 1886 with his entry Ben Ali. Stone Street has also been called Stonestreet in other racing publications and is named after a combination of his sire and dam's names.
Donau (1907–1913) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and was the winner of the 1910 Kentucky Derby. Donau was known for his often temperamental and difficult personality, which led to him being gelded at the end of 1910. Donau started in 111 races over his three-year flat racing career and was in the process of being retrained for steeplechasing when he died at the age of six years in February 1913 at the Nashville farm of his owner William Gerst of the William Gerst Brewing Company.
Swynford was a British Thoroughbred racehorse. Bred at the 16th Lord Derby's stud in Lincolnshire, England he was sired by John O'Gaunt, a son of Isinglass, winner of the British Triple Crown in 1893. His dam was Lord Derby's foundation mare and 1896 Epsom Oaks winner Canterbury Pilgrim who also produced Chaucer, the 1927 and 1933 Leading broodmare sire in Great Britain & Ireland.
John Edward Madden was a prominent American Thoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky and bred five Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes winners.
Meridian (1908–1935) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1911 Kentucky Derby, setting a new record by running 11⁄4 miles in 2 minutes, 5 seconds. The previous record of 2:061⁄4 had been set by Lieut. Gibson in the 1900 Derby. Meridian was determined to be the historical Champion Three-Year Old and Horse of the Year of 1911.
Wool Winder, also known as Woolwinder, was a British-bred and raced Thoroughbred racehorse that won the 1907 St. Leger Stakes. Wool Winder excelled as a three-year-old but suffered from health problems in his later career, running rarely in 1908 and 1909. Sold and exported to Austria-Hungary in 1909, he became a successful sire of winners in the 1910s and 1920s before his death of an intestinal infection in 1928.
The 2016 Preakness Stakes was the 141st running of the Preakness Stakes. The race was held on May 21, 2016, and was scheduled to be run at 6:45 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT) and was televised on NBC. Exaggerator won the race, while 2016 Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist finished third. The Maryland Jockey Club reported a track record total attendance of 135,256, the second highest attendance for American thoroughbred racing events in North America during 2016.
The 1972 Kentucky Derby was the 98th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 6, 1972, with 130,564 people in attendance.
The 1955 Kentucky Derby was the 81st running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 7, 1955. The race carried a purse of $152,500 of which winner Swaps received $108,400, a then record.
Andrew Minder was an American jockey. He rode the winning horse Pink Star in the 1907 Kentucky Derby for trainer William Fizer. A native of Brooklyn, New York City, New York, Minder became a jockey at 16 and rode for twenty years.
Norman was an American-bred, British-trained Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was exported from the United States as a yearling and showed some promise as a juvenile in 1907 when he won twice from nine starts. In the following spring he recorded a 25/1 upset victory in the 2000 Guineas. He was unplaced when favourite for the Epsom Derby and finished last in the St Leger but ended his second season with a victory in the Newmarket St Leger. He raced for another two seasons but never recaptured his classic winning form. He made no impact as a breeding stallion.
Rhodora was an Irish Thoroughbred racehorse and broodmare. She was one of the best juvenile fillies in the British Isles in 1907 when she won three of her six races including a victory over strong male opposition in the Dewhurst Stakes. In the following year she won the 1000 Guineas but was brought down when favourite for the Epsom Oaks. She won two more races in Ireland before her racing career was ended by injury. She was retired from racing to become a broodmare, but none of her produce survived long after birth.
Charles Edward was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in less than a month in 1907 set three track records including a world record. In a 1910 history of one of the three races, the Daily Racing Form wrote that Charles Edward "gave in the Seagate one of the most amazing displays of high-class speed ever witnessed."
