Kentucky Derby News

Features April 29, 2019

Tales from the Crib: Tax

From the family of 1993 Kentucky Derby (G1) winner Sea Hero, Tax sports the kind of mouthwatering pedigree you’d expect from one bred by Claiborne Farm and Adele Dilschneider.
By Arch, the sire of champion Blame who denied Zenyatta in the 2010...

April 29, 2019

Grammy Award-Winning Entertainer Jennifer Nettles to Sing National Anthem at the 145th Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky., April 29, 2019 – Churchill Downs Racetrack today announced that Grammy® Award-winning country music superstar Jennifer Nettles will sing the national anthem at the 145th Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve on Saturday,...

April 29, 2019

2019 Kentucky Derby Study Guide

A full field of 20 three-year-olds will travel 1 1/4 miles over the famed Churchill Downs oval in the $3 million Kentucky Derby (G1) on May 4. The 145th edition of the Run for the Roses looks to be competitive as ever with more than a dozen logical contenders...

April 28, 2019

Kentucky Derby Update: Sunday, April 28, 2019

The special 7:30-7:45 (all times Eastern) morning training window for Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks horses was put to major use Sunday morning with six Derby hopefuls and three Oaks likely starters turning in works during that time frame.
  The...

Features April 28, 2019

Tales from the Crib: Cutting Humor

Cutting Humor, one of two Kentucky Derby (G1) contenders (along with Tax) arising from the Hancock family’s historic Claiborne Farm, hopes for better luck than his nearest forebears.
Sire First Samurai was a multiple Grade 1-winning juvenile...

Pedigree fun facts April 28, 2019

Pedigree fun facts for 2019 Kentucky Derby

The contenders for the 2019 Kentucky Derby (G1) have blood ties with famous champions of the past as well as performers of more recent vintage.
Let’s start by identifying the sire lines represented in Derby 145.
The sire line of 1964 Derby champion...

Features April 27, 2019

Tales from the Crib: Master Fencer

Additional reporting by Kate Hunter
Thirty years after Sunday Silence wore the roses, a great-grandson of his will become the first Japanese-bred to race in the Kentucky Derby (G1) – Master Fencer. Katsumi and Yasuyo Yoshizawa’s runner garnered...

Features April 27, 2019

Tales from the Crib: Haikal

A homebred descended from one of Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum’s luminaries, Haikal hopes to give his globally prominent Shadwell operation a first Kentucky Derby (G1) trophy.
Sheikh Hamdan, Sheikh Mohammed’s brother, has won the original Derby...

April 27, 2019

Kentucky Derby Update: Saturday, April 27, 2019

On a clear, mild morning at Churchill Downs, three hopefuls for next Saturday’s 145th running of the $3 million Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (GI) including probable morning-line favorite Omaha Beach put in their final works for the...

April 27, 2019

Five Kentucky Derby names that recall figures of the past

There are no set rules in the naming of Thoroughbreds, only limitations as enforced by The Jockey Club. Quite often, nomenclatural inspiration is drawn from a figure or event of the distant or not-so-distant past. Sometimes there is no actual link as...

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