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2019 Kentucky Derby
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2019 Kentucky Derby
The 2019 Kentucky Derby (officially, the 2019 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve) was the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, May 4, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky. The field was open to 20 horses, who qualified for the race by earning points on the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Derby is held annually on the first Saturday in May, at the end of the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. It is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km), and has been run at Churchill Downs racetrack since its inception in 1875. The purse for 2019 was increased from US$2 million to US$3 million.
The race was broadcast by NBC, with coverage by NBCSN of undercard races beginning at 12:30 pm EDT and main network coverage of pre-race activities starting at 2:30 pm EDT. Cleveland Browns star quarterback Baker Mayfield provided the "Riders Up".
Although Maximum Security crossed the finish line before long shot Country House, Maximum Security was disqualified and the victory was awarded to Country House after Maximum Security was judged to have cost War of Will and Long Range Toddy a better placing in the race when he swerved into their path, causing them to check strides.
The Kentucky Derby is only open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds, thus entrants in the 2019 race were foaled in 2016, mostly as part of the North America foal crop of roughly 22,500. The field is limited to twenty horses who qualify based on points earned in the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of designated races that was first introduced in 2013. This point system replaced the previous graded stakes race earnings system.
Most positions in the Derby starting gate are earned on the main Road, consisting of 34 races in North America plus one in Dubai. The seven major preps for the Kentucky Derby are the Louisiana Derby, UAE Derby, Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, Blue Grass Stakes, Santa Anita Derby and Arkansas Derby. Each of these races provided the winner with 100 qualifying points, essentially guaranteeing that horse a berth in the Derby provided the owner pays the required nomination and entry fees. The first three of these major preps were run in late March and were won by By My Standards, Plus Que Parfait and Maximum Security respectively. The next three major prep races were run on April 6, and were won by Tacitus, Vekoma and Roadster respectively. The last major prep was run on April 13, and was won by Omaha Beach.
One qualification position is also available via the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, and another via the Japan Road. In 2019, none of the offers for the European Road were accepted and the top three finishers in the Japan Road declined their invitation as they had not been nominated to the Derby. The connections of the fourth-place finisher on the Japan Road, Master Fencer, decided to accept the offer, marking the first time that a Japanese-bred horse entered the Derby via the Japan Road.
The cutoff to qualify for the Derby was 40 points, the highest such total since the points system was adopted. The post position draw took place on April 30, after which Omaha Beach was installed as the 4–1 morning line favorite. However, he was scratched from the race on May 1 due to an entrapped epiglottis, which impaired his breathing. Because of his withdrawal, Bodexpress drew into the field as program number 21. With the subsequent scratch of Haikal (originally post position 11) combined with Omaha Beach (originally post position 12), horses with higher program numbers moved over two place in the starting gate—for example, Code of Honor (saddle cloth 13) started from post position 11.
Trainer Bob Baffert, whose five Derby wins include Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify, had three of the leading contenders: Champion Two-Year-Old Game Winner, Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster, and Arkansas Derby second-place finisher Improbable who would go on to be the 2020 Champion Older Dirt Male after three Grade One wins. "This year is different," said Baffert. "With [Justify and American Pharoah] I knew I had the horse and felt like I needed a little luck. Now I've got three nice horses, and there's a lot of parity. It's wide open."
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2019 Kentucky Derby
The 2019 Kentucky Derby (officially, the 2019 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve) was the 145th running of the Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, May 4, 2019, in Louisville, Kentucky. The field was open to 20 horses, who qualified for the race by earning points on the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby. The Derby is held annually on the first Saturday in May, at the end of the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. It is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km), and has been run at Churchill Downs racetrack since its inception in 1875. The purse for 2019 was increased from US$2 million to US$3 million.
The race was broadcast by NBC, with coverage by NBCSN of undercard races beginning at 12:30 pm EDT and main network coverage of pre-race activities starting at 2:30 pm EDT. Cleveland Browns star quarterback Baker Mayfield provided the "Riders Up".
Although Maximum Security crossed the finish line before long shot Country House, Maximum Security was disqualified and the victory was awarded to Country House after Maximum Security was judged to have cost War of Will and Long Range Toddy a better placing in the race when he swerved into their path, causing them to check strides.
The Kentucky Derby is only open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds, thus entrants in the 2019 race were foaled in 2016, mostly as part of the North America foal crop of roughly 22,500. The field is limited to twenty horses who qualify based on points earned in the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of designated races that was first introduced in 2013. This point system replaced the previous graded stakes race earnings system.
Most positions in the Derby starting gate are earned on the main Road, consisting of 34 races in North America plus one in Dubai. The seven major preps for the Kentucky Derby are the Louisiana Derby, UAE Derby, Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, Blue Grass Stakes, Santa Anita Derby and Arkansas Derby. Each of these races provided the winner with 100 qualifying points, essentially guaranteeing that horse a berth in the Derby provided the owner pays the required nomination and entry fees. The first three of these major preps were run in late March and were won by By My Standards, Plus Que Parfait and Maximum Security respectively. The next three major prep races were run on April 6, and were won by Tacitus, Vekoma and Roadster respectively. The last major prep was run on April 13, and was won by Omaha Beach.
One qualification position is also available via the European Road to the Kentucky Derby, and another via the Japan Road. In 2019, none of the offers for the European Road were accepted and the top three finishers in the Japan Road declined their invitation as they had not been nominated to the Derby. The connections of the fourth-place finisher on the Japan Road, Master Fencer, decided to accept the offer, marking the first time that a Japanese-bred horse entered the Derby via the Japan Road.
The cutoff to qualify for the Derby was 40 points, the highest such total since the points system was adopted. The post position draw took place on April 30, after which Omaha Beach was installed as the 4–1 morning line favorite. However, he was scratched from the race on May 1 due to an entrapped epiglottis, which impaired his breathing. Because of his withdrawal, Bodexpress drew into the field as program number 21. With the subsequent scratch of Haikal (originally post position 11) combined with Omaha Beach (originally post position 12), horses with higher program numbers moved over two place in the starting gate—for example, Code of Honor (saddle cloth 13) started from post position 11.
Trainer Bob Baffert, whose five Derby wins include Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify, had three of the leading contenders: Champion Two-Year-Old Game Winner, Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster, and Arkansas Derby second-place finisher Improbable who would go on to be the 2020 Champion Older Dirt Male after three Grade One wins. "This year is different," said Baffert. "With [Justify and American Pharoah] I knew I had the horse and felt like I needed a little luck. Now I've got three nice horses, and there's a lot of parity. It's wide open."