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Katherine Terrell, ESPN Staff Writer
The Kentucky Derby has been held annually at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, since 1875 and is the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States.
It is traditionally held on the first Saturday in May and is the start of a series of three races known as the Triple Crown. The series also includes the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, which are run over a five-week period from May to June. The three races are exclusively for colts and fillies in their 3-year-old seasons. Horses enter the 20-horse Kentucky Derby field through a scoring system determined by finishes in select races during their 2- and 3-year-old seasons.
This year’s Kentucky Derby purse is worth $5 million, divided among the top 5 finishers. First place will receive $3.1 million, runner-up will receive $1 million and third place will receive $500,000.
What happened at last year’s Kentucky Derby?
The magician won the race last year at odds of 15-1 against favorites Two Phil’s and Angel of Empire. National Empire won the Preakness (Wizard finished third) and Arcangelo won the Belmont Stakes.
Mage has since retired, as has Forte, who was the morning-line favorite for the 2023 Kentucky Derby before being scratched by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission on the morning of the race for a foot bruise.
What’s new for this year?
The Belmont Stakes, the final crown jewel of the Triple Crown and typically the longest race of the trio at 1.5 miles, will be held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York, this year because the park Belmont in Elmont, New York is renovated.
The race will be held on June 8 and shortened to 1¼ miles, the first time other than a COVID-shortened run in 2020 that it will not be run at the traditional distance since 1925. Churchill Downs also opened a new $200 million paddock in front of the Kentucky Derby after two years of construction.
Who’s in and who’s out this year?
Trainer Bob Baffert, who won the Derby six times between 1997 and 2021, remains banned from running horses at tracks owned by Churchill Downs Inc., after the company extended Baffert’s ban until 2024.
Baffert was initially suspended for 2021 after Medina Spirit failed a post-race drug test and was subsequently disqualified. Mandaloun is ranked first after Medina Spirit’s DQ.
Medina Spirit died of a heart attack while in training on December 6, 2021. Baffert is currently training Arkansas Derby winner Muth, who finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile in the fall. A Kentucky appeals court judge recently denied a request by Muth’s owner, Zendan Racing Stables (who also owns Medina Spirit), to overturn the ban.
Baffert has won the Kentucky Derby with Silver Charm (1997), Real Quiet (1998), War Emblem (2002), American Pharoah (2015), Justify (2018) and Authentic (2020).
Justify and American Pharoah, now retired to Ashford Stud in Kentucky, were the 12th and 13th Triple Crown winners. However, Justify was disqualified from the 2018 Santa Anita Derby in March because of a failed drug test public that year.
Although Justify’s status as a Triple Crown winner remained unchanged, his disqualification meant he would not have enough points to qualify for that year’s Kentucky Derby.
30-year-old Silver Charm is currently the oldest living Derby winner and resides at Old Friends Farm in Kentucky.
How did the horses get here?
Sierra Leone enters the Kentucky Derby as the points leader with 155 points thanks to wins in the Risen Star Stakes and Blue Grass Stakes.
Fierceness, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner, finished second in points with a win in the Florida Derby and a third-place finish in the Holy Bull Stakes. Catching Freedom finished third in the points standings after winning the Smarty Jones Stakes, placing third in the Risen Star and winning the Louisiana Derby.
TO Pass entry to the race through the Japan Road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of races held in Japan that allows one horse to enter the race. Unbeaten Forever Young, also a Japanese-bred horse, earned his entry by winning the UAE Derby. The UAE Derby has yet to find a winner of the Kentucky Derby.
What is the story of this year’s race?
Although the 2023 Kentucky Derby has an unprecedented five scratches, it remains a quiet lead-in to the 2024 running, with one scratch as of Thursday morning.
Encino, a 20-1 longshot trained by Brad Cox, was scratched Tuesday, allowing Epic Ride to enter the field after a third-place finish in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. Encino was supposed to start from position 9, but now all the horses outside Encino’s old position will move one place toward the inside rail. Epic Ride will take on the 20th position.
That could be good for Fierceness, who were initially expected to escape the No. 17 position, which has never produced a winner in 44 starts. The Forty Niner finished second from that position in 1988. The Fierce will now take the 16th place, which has produced four winners.
“I agree with this post,” Fierceness coach Todd Pletcher said. “There’s a long enough period in the first turn to hopefully establish a position.”
Sierra Leone (3-1), second choice in the morning series, will still start from position 2. The last horse to win from position 2 was the confirmed Triple Crown winner. received in 1978 with only 11 horses on the field.
“Sierra Leone, he just went further than I wanted him to but he didn’t get a hole-in-one so I’m okay with that,” coach Chad Brown said after Saturday’s draw. “With this particular horse, the last thing I want is a 19 or 20. In fact, it will be difficult for him to get through without losing points, significant points in the first turn.”
Ferdinand won 1st place in 1986 with only 16 horses in the field. Dornach (20-1) will escape that position this year.
Posting is important in a 20-horse field like the Derby, as no other race in the United States has so many horses running at once.
Inside positions like number 1 and number 2 are difficult to win because horses breaking out of that position are often caught in traffic jams from other horses trying to get on the rail, the shortest distance around the line. racing.
Churchill Downs had to use an extra starting gate until 2019 to compensate for the extra horses, causing a gap between positions 14 and 15. They used a 20-horse starting gate from 2020 for this race.
Posts on the far outside also pose their own challenges, as horses on the outside will have to use a lot of early speed to cross the track and lead the pack or stay far back to follow traffic.
Epic Ride will be one of three horses in the race with morning odds of 50-1, along with Society Man, who will exit the No. 19 spot, and West Saratoga, who will exit the No. 12 spot.
Rich Strike won from the No. 20 in 2022 at odds of 80-1 after entering the race late due to scratching.
Does the favorite team win often?
The morning line favorite is not necessarily the horse that will be favored by the betting public when the race begins. Instead, it is the race organizer’s prediction of how the public will bet.
The morning favorite won five times between 2013 and 2018, almost perfectly matching the actual betting favorite, with the exception of 2017. Classic Empire is 4-1 on the morning road this year. that but Always Dreaming is the 4-1 favorite in the time race (and winner).
Neither the morning favorite nor the betting favorite has won since Justify in 2018, although two morning favorites were eliminated before the race (Forte in 2023 and Omaha Beach in 2019. )
