The spice of life: 21 Kentucky Derby winners enjoying a variety of places, activities

Sep 19, 2024 J. Keeler Johnson/TwinSpires.com

The Kentucky Derby (G1) is one of the most famous horse races in the world. Taking first prize in the Run for the Roses guarantees the winner a place in history.

The Kentucky Derby has been held every year since 1875. As of September 2024, there are 150 Kentucky Derby winners in the history books. Of these, 21 are still in training, serving as stallions, or living the retired life. They’re engaging in a wide variety of activities from seemingly every corner of the globe.

One Derby winner is still in the midst of his racing career. That is Mystik Dan (2024), who won the 150th Kentucky Derby in a three-horse photo finish. He’s currently being rested with an eye on competing as a four-year-old in 2025, possibly with the rich Pegasus World Cup (G1) as a goal.

One other Derby winner, Rich Strike (2022), could potentially race in the future. He made headlines two years ago when he won the Derby at odds of 80-1, the second-biggest upset in Derby history. But he hasn’t raced since May 2023 and is dealing with an injury that may lead to his retirement.

The majority of living Derby winners—15 of them—have retired from racing and are currently performing stud duties around the United States and even the world, passing on their Derby-winning genetics to future generations. For fees ranging from as little as $2,500 to as much as $200,000, a mare can be bred to Derby winners Mage (2023), Mandaloun (2021), Authentic (2020), Country House (2019), Justify (2018), Always Dreaming (2017), Nyquist (2016), American Pharoah (2015), California Chrome (2014), Orb (2013), Animal Kingdom (2011), Super Saver (2010), Big Brown (2008), Street Sense (2007), Giacomo (2005), and Smarty Jones (2004).

#RichStrike takes #KyDerby 148 at @ChurchillDowns at 80-1!

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— TwinSpires Racing 🏇 (@TwinSpires) May 7, 2022

So far, none of these stallions have sired a Kentucky Derby winner; father/son Derby duos are uncommon. But the progeny of these Derby winners have nevertheless enjoyed widespread racing success. At the 2023 Breeders’ Cup World Championships, two daughters of Justify (Just F Y I and Hard to Justify) visited the winner’s circle. It’s no wonder why Justify’s stud fee doubled from $100,000 for 2023 to $200,000 for 2024. That’s right—you could spend $200,000 (give or take) on a Porsche 911 Turbo or breed a mare to Justify and wind up with horsepower of a different kind.

Many Derby-winning stallions reside at storied Kentucky farms. Justify, for example, stands alongside fellow Triple Crown winner American Pharoah at Ashford Stud in Versailles, Kentucky. But Derby winners can be found at farms across the country, from New York (Big Brown) and Pennsylvania (Smarty Jones) to Oklahoma (Always Dreaming) and Oregon (Giacomo).

Others have made their way to more distant parts of the globe. Fan favorite California Chrome and the globetrotting Animal Kingdom stand at stud in Japan. Orb has made his way to Uruguay. Super Saver went to Turkey, which was also the home of Kentucky Derby winner Sea Hero (1993) for 20 years until his death from old age in 2019.

Two other Derby winners have retired from breeding and are in full retirement at Old Friends in Kentucky. I’ll Have Another (2012), whose stallion career took him to Japan and then California, retired to Old Friends in 2024. He joined Silver Charm (1997), the oldest living Kentucky Derby winner at age 30, who likewise stood at stud in Japan before returning to the United States and joining Old Friends’s herd of retired Thoroughbreds in 2014.

Silver Charm might be the only living Derby winner from the 20th century, but even in old age he still chooses to run once in a while, when he’s not napping or checking out visitors to the farm.

But wait, that only accounts for 20 living Derby winners. Who is number 21? That would be Mine That Bird (2009), whose rail-skimming Kentucky Derby upset under Hall of Fame jockey Calvin Borel became the subject of the 2014 movie 50 to 1.

As a gelding, Mine That Bird had no chance at a stallion career, so instead he’s become a well-traveled equine celebrity. He’s entertained visitors at Double Eagle Ranch near Roswell, New Mexico, traveled to movie theaters to promote 50 to 1, paraded before football fans at Falcon Stadium, made multiple visits to the Kentucky Derby Museum (where he residing for a short time in the spring of 2024), and worked as a lead pony escorting horses heading to the track for training.

The second half of the Kentucky Derby’s second century will bring many more Derby winners. If the present is any indication, their post-Derby lives will be memorable, no matter what they do or where they do it.