Horse races in the USA don’t come much bigger or get much better than the legendary Kentucky Derby. The Kentucky Derby is attended by the most people and also has the largest viewing audience where television is concerned, so it shows just how important a race it is.
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade 1 race, which means the best horses around compete in it. It’s the highest level of horse race on the flat. Three-year-old thoroughbreds can enter the prestigious race at Churchill Downs, which is in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Kentucky Derby is run over a distance of 1 ¼ miles, which works out at ten furlongs of 2,102 metres. The first Saturday in May is when the race is held, and the Derby is, of course, the first leg of the Triple Crown, which also includes the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
The most recent winner of the Kentucky Derby is Mystik Dan, ridden by jockey Brian Hernandez Jr and trained by Kenneth McPeek. The prize pool for the 2024 Derby was $5,000,000, with the winner taking home $3,100,000. The next Kentucky Derby will be held on May 3, 2025.
2024 Kentucky Derby Winner & Runners-Up
Here is how the runners and riders fared in the 2024 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.
| Finishing Position | Horse | Jockey | Trainer |
| 1st | Mystik Dan | Brian Joseph Hernandez Jr | Kenneth McPeek |
| 2nd | Sierra Leone | Tyler Gaffalione | Chad C Brown |
| 3rd | Forever Young | Ryusei Sakai | Yoshito Yahagi |
| 4th | Catching Freedom | Flavien Prat | Brad H Cox |
| 5th | T O Password | Kazushi Kimura | Daisuke Takayanagi |
| 6th | Resilience | Junior Alvarado | William Mott |
| 7th | Stronghold | Antonio Fresu | Philip D’Amato |
| 8th | Honor Marie | Ben Curtis | D Whitworth Beckman |
| 9th | Endlessly | Umberto Rispoli | Michael McCarthy |
| 10th | Dornoch | Luis Saez | Danny Gargan |
| 11th | Track Phantom | Joel Rosario | Steven Asmussen |
| 12th | West Saratoga | Jesus Lopez Castanon | Larry Demeritte |
| 13th | Domestic Product | Irad Ortiz Jr | Chad C Brown |
| 14th | Epic Ride | Adam Beschizza | John Ennis |
| 15th | Fierceness | John R Velazquez | Todd Pletcher |
| 16th | Society Man | Frankie Dettori | Danny Gargan |
| 17th | Just Steel | Keith J Asmussen | D Wayne Lukas |
| 18th | Grand Mo The First | Emisael Jaramillo | Victor Barboza Jr |
| 19th | Catalytic | Jose L Ortiz | Saffle A Joseph Jr |
| 20th | Just A Touch | Florent Geroux | Brad H Cox |
How much did the Kentucky Derby winner make?
The prize pool total for the 2024 Kentucky Derby was $5,000,000. The winner of the race, Mystik Dan, scooped $3,100,000 of that sum.
Fastest Kentucky Derby Times
There have been some incredibly fast finishes in the Kentucky Derby over the years, but Secretariat’s time of 1:59.40, set in 1973, remains the record. No horse has come close to beating the current record in recent times.
| Rank | Horse | Time | Year |
| 1 | Secretariat | 1:59.40 | 1973 |
| 2 | Monarchos | 1:59.97 | 2001 |
| 3 | Northern Dancer | 2:00.00 | 1964 |
| 4 | Spend A Buck | 2:00.20 | 1985 |
| 5 | Decidedly | 2:00.40 | 1962 |
Biggest Shock Winners
It’s been proven to be the case in horse racing many times before that you just never know what can happen on the day. As shown below, some huge-priced horses have won the Kentucky Derby, with Donerail and Rich Strike at odds of 91-1 and 80-1, respectively, the biggest shocks the race has ever seen by some distance.
| Rank | Horse | Odds | Year |
| 1 | Donerail | 91-1 | 1913 |
| 2 | Rich Strike | 80-1 | 2022 |
| 3 | Country House | 65-1 | 2019 |
| 4 | Mine That Bird | 50-1 | 2009 |
| 5 | Giacomo | 50-1 | 2005 |
Who is the most famous Kentucky Derby winner?
It may not come as too much of a shock that the most famous Kentucky Derby winner is arguably Secretariat. Secretariat may have started as favourite in the race in 1973, but he managed to win the race in the quickest time on record. A record that still stands to this day. Secretariat combined the record victory at Churchill Downs with record-setting wins in the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes en route to winning the iconic Triple Crown. But, if it’s shock winners that catch the eye, you can’t overlook the recent victory at 80-1 odds of Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby, which happened in 2022.
Kentucky Derby Winners
| Year | Winner | Jockey | Trainer |
| 2024 | Mystik Dan | Brian Hernandez Jr | Kenneth McPeek |
| 2023 | Mage | Javier Castellano | Gustavo Delgado |
| 2022 | Rich Strike | Sonny Leon | Eric Reed |
| 2021 | Mandaloun | Florent Geroux | Brad Cox |
| 2020 | Authentic | John Velazquez | Bob Baffert |
| 2019 | Country House | Flavien Prat | Bill Mott |
| 2018 | Justify | Mike Smith | Bob Baffert |
| 2017 | Always Dreaming | John Velazquez | Todd Pletcher |
| 2016 | Nyquist | Mario Gutierrez | Doug O’Neill |
| 2015 | American Pharoah | Victor Espinoza | Bob Baffert |
| 2014 | California Chrome | Victor Espinoza | Art Sherman |
What Is The Closest Finish In Kentucky Derby History?
Believe it or not, the most recent Kentucky Derby happened to see one of the closest finishes in the race’s history. It was potentially the closest finish of all time. Three noses were together at the wire, and it was Mystik Dan who was adjudged to have won the race for trainer Kenneth McPeek with jockey Brian Hernandez Jr on board. In the eyes of those with knowledge of the history of the Kentucky Derby, this was the closest three-horse photo that had occurred since the same happened in 1947. Jet Pilot ran out the winner on that day, with Phalanx in second and Faultless in third. But the events of 2024 were much tighter. It certainly made a huge talking point after the race, with close finishes big topics of debate.
Horse Racing Betting
Horse racing is one of the most popular sports when it comes to betting, so it’s no surprise that horse racing odds are offered as one of the standout features of the BetVictor service. Races big and small can be bet on at BetVictor, and they already have Kentucky Derby odds for 2025 available.
