Ian JohnThis week sees the start of the Kentucky Derby festival, two-weeks of exciting horse racing action at the famous Churchill Downs racecourse in Louisville, Kentucky.
- Where Is The Kentucky Derby Run And How Far Is The Race Contested Over?
- What Is The History Of The Kentucky Derby?
- Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Previous Winners?
- Which Horses Can Compete In The Kentucky Derby?
- What Are The Most Popular Kentucky Derby Betting Markets?
- Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Most Successful Trainers?
- Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Fastest Jockeys & Horses – Past
- Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Most Famous Jockeys & Horses – Present
- The 2023 Kentucky Derby – Latest Odds & Tip
- Our Tips
Always run on the first Saturday in May, this race is almost 150 years old and is one of the most prestigious, if not THE most prestigious race contested in the United States each year.
Let’s now take a look at this famous event, which is often billed as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports”.
And remember to check at the bottom of the article for all the latest runners and riders for this years race (when available) together with the latest odds from bet365 Sport.
Where Is The Kentucky Derby Run And How Far Is The Race Contested Over?
The Kentucky Derby is run every year at the Churchill Downs racecourse in Louisville Kentucky on the first Saturday in May.
It is the culmination of a two-week long Kentucky Derby Festival that is the single largest event in the state of Kentucky each year. Part of the Festival includes non-horse racing events including:
- Thunder over Louisville – the largest Fireworks Display in North America.
- A Great Balloon Race
- A Great Steamboat Race
- The Pegasus Parade
- A Marathon and Mini-Marathon.
- A Pro-Am Golf T ournament
- A Volleyball Classic
- A Spelling Bee
- The Run for the Rose – A race for waiters and waitresses that features an obstacle course.
Initially, the Kentucky Derby was run over 1 and a half miles until 1896 when it switched to being run over 1 and a quarter miles.
The race is open to three-year-old thoroughbreds only meaning each horse only has one attempt to win the race.
Churchill Downs is a dirt track, that is run left-handed with the maximum weights for colts and geldings set at 126lbs and for fillies at 121lb.
It is part of the famous “Triple Crown” of horse races in the United States alongside the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
What Is The History Of The Kentucky Derby?
The race was first competed for in 1875 and it has had a long tradition (since 1896) of draping the winning horse with a blanket made up of 554 red roses, giving it the nickname of the “Race for the Roses”.
Inspired by the top races in Europe of the Day (the Epson Derby and Grand Prix de Paris) Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. came back to the United States and organised the Louisville Jockey Club to raise money for the building of a purpose-built horse racing facility on the outskirts of Louisville in the 1860s.
This would become Churchill Downs, named after the people who donated the land for the project.
By 1875, the first Kentucky Derby was contested with the winner a horse called Aristides, ridden by a jockey called Oliver Lewis and it has been contested every year since.
The prize for the winning horse is $1.860,000 out of a total prize pool of $3,000,000.
Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Previous Winners?
Given this is the 149th running of the race, it is impractical to list all the winners here, but you can find the full list of Kentucky Derby winners by following the link.
Last year’s winner in 2022 was Rich Strike, trained by Eric Reed, owned by RED TR-Racing LLC and ridden by Sonny Leon.
Which Horses Can Compete In The Kentucky Derby?
Entrants into the Kentucky Derby are restricted to 3-year-old thoroughbreds.
What Are The Most Popular Kentucky Derby Betting Markets?
Unsurprisingly, a glance at Bet365 Sport reveals that the usual win and each way betting markets are going to be the most popular bets you can make, at least in the antepost betting markets.
However, on race day a whole host of other bets will be available including popular bets such as Forecast and Tricast bets.
Bet365 will likely offer a similar number and type of bets as they do for all top horse races, so you will find plenty of the more unusual markets available on the race too.
Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Most Successful Trainers?
Two trainers have achieved six wins in the race over the years.
The first was Ben A. Jones who trained the winner in 1938, 1941, 1944, 1948, 1949 and 1952.
The most recent trainer to achieve the same six-win feat is Bob Baffert who trained the winner in 1997, 1998, 2002, 2015, 2018 and 2020.
Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Fastest Jockeys & Horses – Past
Over the original 1.5 mile race distance run up until 1896, the fastest horse to win the race was Spokane in 1889, who was trained by John Rodegap and ridden by Thomas Kiley. He set a record of 2 mins 34.5 seconds over the original distance.
Who Are The Kentucky Derby’s Most Famous Jockeys & Horses – Present
The fastest horse over the 1.25 miles race distance run from 1896 was the 1973 winner Secretariat, ridden by Ron Turcotte and trained by Lucien Laurin in what was the duo’s second win in the race in successive years after being successful with Riva Ridge in 1972.
Secretariat finished in a time of 1min 59.4 seconds, becoming the first horse to win the race in under two-minutes.
Since then only one other horse has broken the magical 2 minute mark and that was Monarchos, trained by John T Ward Jr and ridden by Jorge F Chavez, who achieved a time of 1min 59.7 seconds in 2001.
The 2023 Kentucky Derby – Latest Odds & Tip
Bet365 Sport has a total of 23 horses listed for the 149th Kentucky Derby in their Non Runner No Bet listing for the race at the following odds:
| Horse | Age | Trainer | Jockey | Odds |
| Forte | 3 | Todd Pletcher | Irad Ortiz Jr. | 5/2 fav |
| Tapit Trice | 3 | Todd Pletcher | Luis Saez | 9/2 |
| Practical Move | 3 | Tim Yakteen | Ramon A. Vazquez | 8/1 |
| Angel of Empire | 3 | Brad Cox | Flavian Prat | 8/1 |
| Kingsbairns | 3 | Todd Pletcher | Jose L. Ortiz | 10/1 |
| Derma Sotugake (Jap) | 3 | Hidetaka Otonashi | Christoph Lemaire | 10/1 |
| Mage | 3 | Gustavo Delgado | Javier Castellano | 14/1 |
| Two Phil’s | 3 | Larry Rivelli | Jareth Loveberry | 14/1 |
| Verifying | 3 | Brad Cox | Tyler Gaffalione | 16/1 |
| Mandarin Hero | 3 | N/A | N/A | 20/1 |
| Rocket Can | 3 | Bill Mott | Junior Alvaredo | 25/1 |
| Hit Show | 3 | Brad Cox | Manny Franco | 25/1 |
| Confidence Game | 3 | Keith Desormeaux | James Graham | 25/1 |
| Disarm | 3 | Steve Asmussen | Joel Rosario | 25/1 |
| Lord Miles | 3 | Saffi Joseph Jr. | Paco Lopez | 25/1 |
| Skinner | 3 | John Shirreffs | Juan J. Hernandez | 25/1 |
| Jace’s Road | 3 | Brad Cox | Florent Geroux | 33/1 |
| Reincarnate | 3 | Tim Yakteen | John R. Velasquez | 40/1 |
| Continuar (Jap) | 3 | Yoshito Yahagi | Ryusei Sakai | 50/1 |
| Cyclone Mischief | 3 | N/A | N/A | 50/1 |
| King Russell | 3 | N/A | N/A | 50/1 |
| Raise Cain | 3 | Ben Colebrook | Gerardo Corrales | 66/1 |
| Sun Thunder | 3 | Ken McPeek | Brian J Hernandez Jr | 66/1 |
Horses shown in italics were not listed in the 20 runners named on Tuesday 2nd May 2023.
Our Tips
For me, this looks like a race between the top two in the betting with Tapit Trice and Forte likely to be amongst the front runners. However, I like Derma Sotogake after his UAE Derby win in March which was an impressive showing.
- Win Tip – Tapit Trice – 9/2
- Each Way Tip – Derma Sotogake – 10/1
*All odds shown in this article were correct with bet365 Sport at the time of writing but may have changed in the meantime.
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