The Kentucky Derby is one and a quarter miles long, and is known in the United States as “the most exciting two minutes in sports.” The best time at the Kentucky Derby was set by Secretariat in 1973, at just under one minute, fifty-nine and a half seconds, and the record still stands today. The Kentucky Derby is one of the United States’ oldest thoroughbred horse races, and has a purse of two million dollars. It is also the first jewel in the Triple Crown, a series of US races, along with the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. In order to win the Triple Crown, a horse must win all three races. The last horse to win the Triple Crown was Affirmed, in 1978, which was owned by Harbor View Farm, jockeyed by Steve Cauthen, and trained by Laz Barrera.
The Kentucky Derby odds present some of the biggest winnings in horse racing, and are one of the most popular horse races for betting. In fact, the Kentucky Derby has one of the highest attendances in the United States. The purse structure for the Kentucky Derby is split between the top five horses, with first place winning $1,240,000, second winning $400,000, third winning $200,000, fourth winning $100,000, and fifth winning $60,000.
The Kentucky Derby odds from last year had twenty contenders, and the odds posted were as follows:
Number Name Trainer Jockey Morning Line Current Odds
1 Lookin At Lucky Bob Baffert Garrett Gomez 3 6
2 Ice Box Nicholas Zito Jose Lezcano 10 11
3 Noble’s Promise Kenneth McPeek Willie Martinez 12 24
4 Super Saver Todd Pletcher Calvin Borel 15 8
5 Line of David John Sadler Rafael Bejarano 30 19
6 Stately Victor Michael Maker Alan Garcia 30 20
7 American Lion Eoin Harty David Flores 30 23
8 Dean’s Kitten Michael Maker Robby Albarado 50 25
9 Make Music for Me Alexis Barba Joel Rosario 50 30
10 Paddy O’Prado Dale Romans Kent Desormeaux 20 12
11 Devil May Care Todd Pletcher John Velazquez 10 10
12 Conveyance Bob Baffert Martin Garcia 12 27
13 Jackson Bend Nicholas Zito Mike Smith 15 23
14 Mission Impazible Todd Pletcher Rajiv Maragh 20 16
15 Discreetly Mine Todd Pletcher Javier Castellano 30 31
16 Awesome Act Jeremy Noseda Julien Leparoux 10 11
17 Dublin D. Lukas Terry Thompson 12 20
18 Backtalk Thomas Amoss Miguel Mena 50 23
19 Homeboykris Richard Dutrow, Jr. Ramon Dominguez 50 27
20 Sidney’s Candy John Sadler Joseph Talamo 5 9
