The Kentucky Derby has been run at two different distances:
- 1 1/2 miles from 1875 to 1895
- 1 1/4 miles from 1896 to present
The largest Derby crowd was 163,628, who attended the 100th running in 1974. The second largest was 156,106 in 2000.
The leading Kentucky Derby winning jockeys are:
- Eddie Arcaro -- 5 including Triple Crown wins with Whirlaway in 1941 and Citation in 1948
- Bill Hartack -- 5
- Bill Shoemaker -- 4
Bill Shoemaker also leads all jockeys in Derby mounts, with 26. Arcaro had 21 rides.
The leading Kentucky Derby winning trainers are:
- Ben A. Jones -- 6
- H.J. Thompson -- 4
- James Fitzsimmons -- 3
- Max Hirsch -- 3
- D. Wayne Lukas -- 3
Calumet Farm is the leading owner with 8 wins, and the leading breeder with 9 wins. Eight of the nine Calumet-bred winners were bred at the same farm near Lexington, the exception being Strike The Gold.
Twelve Kentucky Derby winners have sired Kentucky Derby winners:
- Halma (Alan-A-Dale)
- Bubbling Over (Burgoo King)
- Reigh Count (Count Fleet)
- Gallant Fox (Omaha)
- Bold Venture (Assault)*
- Bold Venture (Middleground)*
- Pensive (Ponder)
- Count Fleet (Count Turf)
- Ponder (Needles)
- Determine (Decidedly)
- Swaps (Chateaugay)
- Seattle Slew (Swale)
- Unbridled (Grindstone)
*Bold Venture sired 2 winners
The oldest living Derby winner is Spectacular Bid, the 1979 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. He still stands at stud at Milfer Farm in upstate New York. There is a book about him written by Timothy T. Capps.
The winningest post position is #2 with 29 winners. Twelve winners won from post #1, and ten winners each from posts #4 and #5. None have won from post #15.
The track and stakes record for 1 1/4 miles is 1:59.40 set in 1973 by Secretariat. When the race was at 1 1/2 miles, the stakes record was 2:34.50 set by Spokane in 1889. The slowest 1 1/4-mile Derby was run in 1908 by Stone Street in 2:15.20. For more info on the fastest running and fractions, check here.
Kentucky Derby winners by color:
- Bay -- 60
- Chestnut -- 39
- Brown -- 17
- Gray -- 6
- Black -- 4
- Roan -- 1 (Winning Colors)
There have been 32 odds-on favorites of which 17 won and 11 finished second. Shortest odds on a winning favorite were Citation (coupled with Coaltown) and Count Fleet, who went off at 2-5. Before pari-mutuel wagering was introduced, three winners went off at 1-3: Hindoo, Halma, and Agile. The longest shot to win the Derby was Donerail in 1913, at 91-1.
Only three fillies have won the Kentucky Derby out of 38 who entered. The winners were:
- Regret -- 1915
- Genuine Risk -- 1980
- Winning Colors -- 1988
