Kentucky Derby winners: A complete list of all-time race champions, records, Triple Crown horses

Kentucky Derby winners: A complete list of all-time race champions, records, Triple Crown horses | Sporting News

Posted by Admin May 1, 2024 Horse Racing

The Kentucky Derby is set to be run on Saturday for the 150th time in its history. And per usual, the 2024 “Run for the Roses” will kickstart the quest for one of the most elusive titles in all of sports.

That would be horse racing’s Triple Crown.

To date, there have only been 13 winners of the Triple Crown. Only two horses — American Pharoah and Justify — have accomplished the feat since 1979 and only one jockey, Eddie Arcaro, has won the Triple Crown twice.

The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the three-race series and is the intermediate race of the event at 1 1/4 miles. It has been run since 1875 and is the youngest of the three Triple Crown races despite being known as the most prestigious.

The Derby is followed by the 1 3/16-mile Preakness Stakes and the 1 1/2-mile Belmont Stakes. There is a two-week gap between the Derby and the Preakness while the Belmont occurs three weeks after the Preakness is run.

As important as the latter two races are, neither can quite compare to the pomp and circumstance of the Kentucky Derby. The race at Churchill Downs provides its winner with a great deal of hope, as it guarantees the winner a chance to win the Triple Crown by being the first to be run.

So which horses have won the Kentucky Derby and had a chance to complete the Triple Crown? And which ones have actually achieved that feat? Here’s what to know about the history of winners on horse racing’s grandest stages.

MORE: Who will win the Kentucky Derby in 2024?

Kentucky Derby winners list

There have been 149 official winners in the history of the Kentucky Derby. Below is a list of all the winning horses and their finishing times.

Year	Horse	Time to finish
1875	Aristides	2:37.75
1876	Vagrant	2:38.25
1877	Baden-Baden	2:38
1878	Day Star	2:37.25
1879	Lord Murphy	2:37
1880	Fonso	2:37.50
1881	Hindoo	2:40
1882	Apollo	2:40.25
1883	Leonatus	2:43
1884	Buchanan	2:40.25
1885	Joe Cotton	2:37.25
1886	Ben Ali	2:36.25
1887	Montrose	2:39.25
1888	Macbeth II	2:38.25
1889	Spokane	2:34.50
1890	Riley	2:45
1891	Kingman	2:52.25
1892	Azra	2:41.50
1893	Lookout	2:39.25
1894	Chant	2:41
1895	Halma	2:37.50
1896	Ben Brush	2:07.75
1897	Typhoon II	2:12.50
1898	Plaudit	2:09
1899	Manuel, F. Taral	2:12
1900	Lieut. Gibson	2:06.25
1901	His Eminence	2:07.75
1902	Alan-a-Dale	2:08.75
1903	Judge Himes	2:09
1904	Elwood	2:08.50
1905	Agile	2:10.75
1906	Sir Huon	2:08.80
1907	Pink Star	2:12.60
1908	Stone Street	2:15.20
1909	Wintergreen	2:08.20
1910	Donau	2:06.40
1911	Meridian	2:05
1912	Worth	2:09.40
1913	Donerail	2:04.80
1914	Old Rosebud	2:03.40
1915	Regret	2:05.40
1916	George Smith	2:04
1917	Omar Khayyam	2:04.60
1918	Exterminator	2:10.80
1919	Sir Barton	2:09.80
1920	Paul Jones	2:09
1921	Behave Yourself	2:04.20
1922	Morvich	2:04.60
1923	Zev	2:05.40
1924	Black Gold	2:05.20
1925	Flying Ebony	2:07.60
1926	Bubbling Over	2:03.80
1927	Whiskery	2:06
1928	Reigh Count	2:10.40
1929	Clyde Van Dusen	2:10.80
1930	Gallant Fox	2:07.60
1931	Twenty Grand	2:01.80
1932	Burgoo King	2:05.20
1933	Brokers Tip	2:06.80
1934	Cavalcade	2:04
1935	Omaha	2:05
1936	Bold Venture	2:03.60
1937	War Admiral	2:03.20
1938	Lawrin	2:04.80
1939	Johnstown	2:03.40
1940	Gallahadion	2:05
1941	Whirlaway	2:01.40
1942	Shut Out	2:04.40
1943	Count Fleet	2:04
1944	Pensive	2:04.20
1945	Hoop Jr.	2:07
1946	Assault	2:06.60
1947	Jet Pilot	2:06.80
1948	Citation	2:05.40
1949	Ponder	2:04.20
1950	Middleground	2:01.60
1951	Count Turf	2:02.60
1952	Hill Gail	2:01.60
1953	Dark Star	2:02
1954	Determine	2:03
1955	Swaps	2:01.80
1956	Needles	2:03.40
1957	Iron Liege	2:02.20
1958	Tim Tam	2:05
1959	Tomy Lee	2:02.20
1960	Venetian Way	2:02.40
1961	Carry Back	2:04
1962	Decidedly	2:00.40
1963	Chateaugay	2:01.80
1964	Northern Dancer	2:00
1965	Lucky Debonair	2:01.20
1966	Kauai King	2:02
1967	Proud Clarion	2:00.60
1968	*Forward Pass	2:02.20
1969	Majestic Prince	2:01.80
1970	Dust Commander	2:03.40
1971	Canonero II	2:03.20
1972	Riva Ridge	2:01.80
1973	Secretariat	1:59.40
1974	Cannonade	2:04
1975	Foolish Pleasure	2:02
1976	Bold Forbes	2:01.60
1977	Seattle Slew	2:02.20
1978	Affirmed	2:01.20
1979	Spectacular Bid	2:02.40
1980	Genuine Risk	2:02
1981	Pleasant Colony	2:02
1982	Gato Del Sol	2:02.40
1983	Sunny’s Halo	2:02.20
1984	Swale	2:02.40
1985	Spend a Buck	2:00.20
1986	Ferdinand	2:02.80
1987	Alysheba	2:03.40
1988	Winning Colors	2:02.20
1989	Sunday Silence	2:05
1990	Unbridled	2:02
1991	Strike the Gold	2:03
1992	Lil E. Tee	2:03
1993	Sea Hero	2:02.42
1994	Go for Gin	2:03.72
1995	Thunder Gulch	2:01.77
1996	Grindstone	2:01.06
1997	Silver Charm	2:02.44
1998	Real Quiet	2:02.38
1999	Charismatic	2:03.29
2000	Fusaichi Pegasus	2:01.12
2001	Monarchos	1:59.97
2002	War Emblem	2:01.13
2003	Funny Cide	2:01.19
2004	Smarty Jones	2:04.06
2005	Giacomo	2:02.75
2006	Barbaro	2:01.36
2007	Street Sense	2:02.17
2008	Big Brown	2:01.82
2009	Mine That Bird	2:02.66
2010	Super Saver	2:04.45
2011	Animal Kingdom	2:02.04
2012	I’ll Have Another	2:01.83
2013	Orb	2:02.89
2014	California Chrome	2:03.66
2015	American Pharoah	2:03.02
2016	Nyquist	2:01.31
2017	Always Dreaming	2:03.59
2018	Justify	2:04.20
2019	Country House	2:03.93
2020	Authentic	2:00.61
2021	Mandaloun	2:01.02
2022	Rich Strike	2:02.61
2023	Mage	2:01.57

Triple Crown winners all time

Only 13 horses have won the Triple Crown in the history of the award’s existence. It was first won by Sir Barton in 1919 while Justify is the most recent Triple Crown winner after achieving the feat in 2018.

Before Justify, American Pharoah notably ended a 37-year period during which no horse won the award. Below is a full history of the Triple Crown-winning horses and jockeys dating back to 1919.

Year	Horse	Jockey
2018	Justify	Mike Smith
2015	American Pharoah	Victor Espinoza
1978	Affirmed	Steve Cauthen
1977	Seattle Slew	Jean Cruguet
1973	Secretariat	Ron Turcotte
1948	Citation	Eddie Arcaro
1946	Assault	Warren Mehrtens
1943	Count Fleet	Johnny Longden
1941	Whirlaway	Eddie Arcaro
1937	War Admiral	Charles Kurtsinger
1935	Omaha	Willie “Smokey” Saunders
1930	Gallant Fox	Earl Sande
1919	Sir Barton	Johnny Loftus

Kentucky Derby records

Speed: 1:59.4 — Secretariat (1973)
Margin of victory: 8 lengths — Old Rosebud (1914), Johnstown (1939), Whirlaway (1941), Assault (1946)
Most wins by a jockey: 5 — Eddie Arcaro (1938, 1941, 1945, 1948, 1952), Bill Hartack (1957, 1960, 1962, 1964, 1969)
Most wins by a trainer: 6 — Ben A. Jones (1938, 1941, 1944, 1948, 1949, 1952), Bob Baffert (1997, 1998, 2002, 2015, 2018, 2020)
Longest odds to win: 91 to 1 — Donerail (1913)