Kentucky Derby

For the 2024 race, see 2024 Kentucky Derby. For the season point system, see Road to the Kentucky Derby.

Kentucky Derby
Grade I race


"The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports"
"The Run for the Roses"
LocationChurchill Downs
Louisville, Kentucky, U.S.
InauguratedMay 17, 1875 (149 years ago) (1875-05-17)
Race typeThoroughbred
SponsorWoodford Reserve[1] (Brown–Forman)
Websitekentuckyderby.com
Race information
Distance1+1⁄4 miles (10 furlongs; 2 km)
Record1:59.4, Secretariat (1973) more
SurfaceDirt
TrackLeft-handed
Qualification3-year-old
WeightColt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg)
Filly: 121 lb (55 kg)
PurseUS$5 million[2]
1st: $3.1 million

The Kentucky Derby (/ˈdɜːrbi/) 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 (10 furlongs; 2,012 metres). Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kilograms) and fillies 121 pounds (55 kilograms).[3]

Held annually on the first Saturday in May, the Derby is the first leg of the Triple Crown. It is preceded by the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival.[4] The race is known as "The Run for the Roses", as the winning horse is draped in a blanket of roses.[5][6] Lasting approximately two minutes, the Derby has been alternately called "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports",[7][8] "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports",[9][10] or "The Greatest Two Minutes in Sports", coined by Churchill Downs president Matt Winn.[11][12] At least two of these descriptions are thought to be derived from the words of sportswriter Grantland Rice, when in 1935 he said "Those two minutes and a second or so of derby running carry more emotional thrills, per second, than anything sport can show."[6][13]

The race was first run in 1875. Unlike the other, older races of the Triple Crown—the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes—along with the Travers Stakes (the oldest comparable stakes race in the US), the Kentucky Derby and its sibling race, the Kentucky Oaks, have been run every year since inception. They were twice rescheduled within the same year, the first time due to World War II in 1945, and the second time due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The Derby and the Oaks are the oldest major sporting events in the US held annually since their beginning.[5][14] Among thoroughbred stakes races, they are the oldest that have been held annually on the same track every year.[5]

The Derby is the most-watched and most-attended horse race in the United States. The 2024 Kentucky Derby marked the 150th running of the race.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Woodford was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Frakes, Jason (January 10, 2024). "2024 Kentucky Derby to feature record $5 million purse. Here are payouts for 150th running". Courier Journal. Archived from the original on January 28, 2024. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  3. ^ "Tenth Race Churchill May 1, 2004". May 1, 2004. Daily Racing Forum. Accessed on May 9, 2006.
  4. ^ "What is the Derby Festival®? – Our Story". Kentucky Derby Festival. Archived from the original on January 31, 2024. Retrieved January 31, 2024. The Festival blasts off each year with the Opening Ceremonies – Thunder Over Louisville, one of the nation's largest annual fireworks extravaganzas! The ensuing two weeks of excitement and entertainment promise something for everyone.
  5. ^ a b c Renau, Lynn S. (2001). "Kentucky Derby". In Kleber, John E. (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Louisville. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 467–470. ISBN 0-8131-2100-0. OCLC 247857447. Archived from the original on March 13, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  6. ^ a b Rossingh, Danielle (May 3, 2019). "The Kentucky Derby: five reasons why you shouldn't miss it". CNN. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  7. ^ Forde, Pat (May 3, 2007). "Most exciting two minutes? Derby proves it every year". ESPN. Archived from the original on May 21, 2023. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  8. ^ Henderson, Cydney (May 3, 2024). "How long is the Kentucky Derby? How many miles is the race at Churchill Downs?". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 16, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  9. ^ Wakefield, Kirk (April 26, 2021). "The Kentucky Derby Makes The Fastest Two Minutes In Sports A Year-Round Party". Forbes. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  10. ^ Molski, Max (April 29, 2024). "Everything you need to know about the 2024 Kentucky Derby". nbcnewyork.com. Archived from the original on May 5, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Sowers, Richard (2014). The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes: A Comprehensive History. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 7.
  12. ^ Adams, Kirby (April 3, 2024). "Why this famous Churchill Downs feature is only used once at the Kentucky Derby". Courier Journal. Archived from the original on May 30, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.
  13. ^ Rice, Grantland (May 4, 1935). "Kentucky Derby Has 50,000 Visitors Lifted to the Boiling Point". Des Moines Tribune. p. 6. Retrieved May 30, 2024 – via newspapers.com.
  14. ^ Harris, Beth (May 4, 2024). "The Kentucky Derby is turning 150 years old. It's survived world wars and controversies of all kinds". nbcwashington.com. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 10, 2024. Retrieved May 29, 2024.