Kentucky Derby Trivia

1. It's fairly common knowledge that Secretariat posted the fastest winning Kentucky Derby, 1:59⅖ in 1973. But who posted the second fastest time across the finish line that year?

From Quiz Kentucky Derby Burgoo II

Answer: Sham

The dark bay Sham crossed the finish line at the 99th Kentucky Derby just 2​½ lengths behind Secretariat meaning he ran the course between 1:59⅘​ and 2:00⅕. That itself would have been a record had it not been for Secretariat, as the previous record had been held by Northern Dancer, who had finished in two minutes flat in 1964. Because Sham crossed the line 10 frames of film behind Secretariat (according to the CBS footage), it has been estimated that his time may have been only 0.34 seconds shy of Secretariat. A sizable horse at over 16 hands, Sham would have been a champion in any other year, but he will always lurk in Secretariat's shadow. Not until 2001 did another horse break the two-minute barrier, namely Monarchos at 1:59.97, conventionally listed as 1:59⅘. (By 2001, racing clocks were electronically timed to hundredths of a second, rather than fifths of a second as they had been in decades earlier.) No other horse through 2019, not even the amazing American Pharaoh (2015) completed the Run for the Roses under two minutes.

From Quiz The Fabulous Fillies of the Kentucky Derby

Answer: 1870s & 1910s

The first Kentucky Derby was in 1875, and in the first five Derbys there were no less than 7 fillies starting. Another seven started in the 1910s. The 1920s and 1930s each boasted six fillies starting in the Derby. There were 3 starting fillies apiece in the 1980s and 1990s. There was only one filly in the 1880s, Pike's Pride (1883); in the 1940s, Misweet (1945); in the 1950s, Silver Spoon (1959); and in the 2000s, Eight Belles (2008). No fillies entered the Kentucky Derby in the 1890s or the 1960s.

From Quiz 2014 Kentucky Derby

Answer: California Chrome

California Chrome won the derby with a stirring stretch run, about two lengths ahead of hard charging Commanding Curve. The race was the colt's fifth straight win with new jockey, Victor Espinoza (he replaced Alberto Degrado). He was the first California bred horse to win the race since 1962 when Decidely won it. The race was the colt's seventh career win in 11 starts.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby 2013

Answer: Orb

A bay colt with a small white star, Orb was bred and owned by Stuart S Janney III and Phipps Stable. Claude R. "Shug" Mcgaughey III trained Orb, who drew post position 16, near the outside of the track. He entered the race with four consecutive wins, including the Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Florida Derby, in which he defeated another 2013 Derby contender, Itsmyluckyday, by 2¾ lengths. Orb's rider was John Velazquez in both the Florida and the Kentucky derbies. By early Saturday, the clear betting favorite had become Revolutionary, ridden by Calvin Borel, a celebrated Cajun jockey and three-time Derby winner. NBC sports commentators speculated that it was more the jockey than horse that attracted bettors, especially Kentucky residents, who also bet heavily on Goldencents, partly owned by University of Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino. The final odds, however, reveal that Orb once again became the favorite at 5-1, with Revolutionary close behind at 6-1. Verrazano, who at one time was thought to be a favorite, was 8-1.

From Quiz A Kentucky Derby Burgoo I

Answer: Louisville

Churchill Downs opened in 1875 under the auspices of Colonel Meriwether Clark, Jr., grandson of explorer William Clark. Col. Clark was the president of the Louisville Jockey Club, which had formed just the year prior. His father-in-law introduced Clark to horse racing by bringing him to the English Derby at Epsom Downs, Surrey, England. Churchill Downs is named for brothers John and Henry Churchill, who leased the land on which the track was built to Col. Clark, their nephew. The federal government declared the Downs a National Historic Landmark in 1986. The Downs is famous for its twin spires, which unfortunately are difficult to view from most angles since the additions to the clubhouse in the early 21st century.

From Quiz Pedigrees: Kentucky Derby Winners

Answer: Spectacular Bid

Spectacular Bid was the 1979 winner of the Kentucky Derby. He went on to win the Preakness, but failed to win the Belmont. With 26 victories in 30 starts his winnings was a then record setting amount. His sire, Bold Bidder also sired the 1974 Derby winner, Cannonade. His grandsire, Bold Ruler, was the sire of Secretariat, the Kentucky Derby winner in 1973. Exterminator was the Derby winner in 1916, while Bold Venture won in 1936.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby: The First 100 Years

Answer: Halma and Alan-a-Dale

Man O' War did not run in the Kentucky Derby, but his son Clyde Can Dusen won in 1929. McGee likewise never ran in the Derby, but his famous son Exterminator won in 1918. Bold Ruler ran in the 1957 Derby but came in 4th; his famous son Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby Seconds

Answer: Alydar

Alydar won 2 out of 6 races against Affirmed when they were 2 year olds. Alydar would make a better sire than Affirmed. Alydar would sire Kentucky Derby winners Alysheba (1987) and Strike the Gold (1991). Affirmed's offspring prefered turf races like Eclipse winner Flawlessly.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby

Answer: Colonel Matt Winn

Matt Winn was the marketing king of his time. Colonel M. Lewis Clark was the actual founder of Churchill Downs. H.P McGrath owned Aristides, the first horse to win the Derby and Oliver Lewis was the jockey.

From Quiz The Kentucky Derby

Answer: Aristides

Aristides won in 1875 and was the favorite with 2-1 odds.

From Quiz The Kentucky Derby

Answer: 1875

The first Kentucky Derby was won by Aristides who was also the favorite to win the race.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby Fun

Answer: Bay

Bay-58, Chestnut-39, Brown-17, Roan-1.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby Burgoo II

Answer: Spokane

When the Kentucky Derby began at Churchill Downs in 1875, the length was a grueling 12 furlongs, or 1½ miles. The Kentucky Derby is limited to three-year-old horses, and many horse trainers and owners thought it was too early in the year to race such young Thoroughbreds. (The issue is compounded by the fact that all Thoroughbreds have an official birthday on January 1. So a foal born in April is officially one year old the following January; likewise, a foal born in August is also one year old the following January). In 1896, therefore, the race was shortened to 1¼ miles. Winning that first shorter Derby, Ben Brush was draped in a blanket of white and pink roses.

From Quiz The Fabulous Fillies of the Kentucky Derby

Answer: Lady Navarre

Lady Navarre finished second to Sir Huon in the 32nd Kentucky Derby in 1906 in a field of six horses. She was the first filly even to start in the Derby since 1883 (a 23-year gap). The 32nd Derby was the first one timed to fifths of a second rather than fourths. Lady Navarre was also the first filly to run in both the Kentucky Oaks (the Derby's fillies-only sister race) and the Kentucky Derby. Lady Navarre finished second again to Sir Huon in the Latonia Derby. Ascension and Gold Mine were the first fillies ever to start in the Kentucky Derby. They raced in 1875 at the very first Derby and finished 10th and 15th to Aristides. Lizzie Stone finished sixth in the second Kentucky Derby ever held (1876), losing to Vagrant, who carried only 97 pounds (in modern Kentucky Derbys the weight is 126 pounds for all horses).

From Quiz 2014 Kentucky Derby

Answer: Art Sherman

California Chrome was trained by Art Sherman,77 and his son Alan Sherman, and was the first horse they ever entered to run in the Kentucky Derby. The elder Sherman's experience in the thoroughbred racing industry dates back to the 1955 Kentucky Derby when he was the exercise rider for Swaps, the race winner.

From Quiz Mine That Bird

Answer: New Mexico

In fact the ranch is in the high plains just outside Roswell, New Mexico, the city famous for an alleged UFO incident in 1947. Mine That Bird's new owners were Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Bloch. Mark Allen obtained the money to buy Mine That Bird from the sale of his family's oil company. The year before, Mark and his father Bill were involved in an oil-related bribery scandal with an Alaska state representative, but in a plea bargain, Bill obtained immunity for Mark. Had Mark been convicted, he would have lost his license to own horses under New Mexico state law, and he never could have taken Mine That Bird to the winner's circle.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby 2013

Answer: Todd Pletcher

The horses trained by Todd Pletcher for the 2013 Kentucky Derby were: Verrazano, Revolutionary, Overanalyze, Palace Malice, and Charming Kitten. Pletcher has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer of the Year four times consecutively (2004-07). His breakthrough win was three-year-old Ashado's victory in the 2004 Kentucky Oaks. In 2007, Pletcher's horse Rags to Riches became the first filly to win the Belmont Stakes since 1905; it was the trainer's first Triple Crown victory. D. Wayne Lukas trained Oxbow and Will Take Charge for the 2013 Kentucky Derby. Chad Brown's charge was Normandy Invasion. Bob Baffert had no entries in 2013.

From Quiz A Kentucky Derby Burgoo I

Answer: Red Roses

The garland was introduced for the 58th Kentucky Derby, won by none other than Burgoo King, a chestnut colt from Idle Hour Stock Farm near Lexington, Kentucky. Since then, each year several workers sew 400 red roses into a green satin backing. Embroidered on one end is the seal of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, and on the other, the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs and the number of the running (e.g. 139 in 2013). The horse gets the garland, but the jockey gets a huge bouquet of 60 long-stemmed red roses wrapped in ten yards of ribbon. As for the remaining answer choices... The winner of the Preakness Stakes, second jewel of the U.S. Triple Crown, is draped in black-eyed Susans (actually daisies painted to look like black-eyed Susans because they are out of season). The winner of the third jewel, the Belmont Stakes, receives a blanket of white carnations. Goldenrod, a prodigious wildflower, is the state flower of Kentucky.

From Quiz Pedigrees: Kentucky Derby Winners

Answer: Winning Colors

Winning Colors won the Kentucky Derby in 1988. She was only one of three fillies to accomplish the feat. She was voted outstanding filly of the year in 1988. Derby winners Pensive (1944) and Ponder (1949) are among the ancestors of Winning Colors. Pink Star won the Derby in 1907 and Gato Del Sol in 1982.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby: The First 100 Years

Answer: 3

Bull Lea was the sire of 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, the 1952 Derby winner Hill Gail and the 1957 Derby winner Iron Liege.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby Seconds

Answer: Native Dancer

Dark Star won the race by a head. It would be Native Dancer's only loss in 22 starts. The "Grey Ghost" would, however, be named co-horse of the year.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby

Answer: 1875

The first Derby was run on May 17, 1875; won by Aristides.

From Quiz The Kentucky Derby

Answer: My Old Kentucky Home

'My Old Kentucky Home' was written by Stephen Foster. There is a real My Old Kentucky Home in Bardstown, Kentucky.

From Quiz The Kentucky Derby

Answer: Churchill Downs

Churchill Downs was incorporated in 1937.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby Fun

Answer: 3rd

Winning Colors 1988, Genuine Risk 1980, and Regret 1915.

From Quiz The Fabulous Fillies of the Kentucky Derby

Answer: Regret

Regret was a chestnut filly foaled in New Jersey. She broke her maiden at first asking in the 1914 Saratoga Special. An exceptionally large filly, Regret raced only against colts, never other fillies. Regret's win came at time when some unusual things happened at the Kentucky Derby to make it hit the front pages of the newspapers. In 1913, the long-shot Donerail won at 91-1, paying $184.90 on a $2 bet and setting a record for the longest odds that stood well into the 21st century. The following year, Old Rosebud set a speed record for the Derby at 2:03, and kept that record for sixteen years. Then in 1915, the muscular filly Regret won. Matt J. Winn, owner of Churchill Downs and the "Kentucky Derby" name in the 1910s, once remarked: "The race needed only a victory by Regret to create some more coast-to-coast publicity to really put it over. She did not fail us. Regret made the Kentucky Derby an American institution." Regret was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1957.

From Quiz 2015 Kentucky Derby

Answer: American Pharoah and Dortmund

American Pharoah had 5-2 odds while Dortmund had 3-1 odds. Before the 2015 Kentucky Derby Bob Baffert had trained Silver Charm, Real Quiet and War Emblem who all won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in prior years.

From Quiz Mine That Bird

Answer: Native Dancer

In particular Native Dancer's tail-male descendants have dominated the Triple Crown races. (Tail-male means direct sire line, from father to son to grandson to great-grandson, etc.) Native Dancer was an accomplished racehorse and quite the celebrity in his day; his only loss was the 1953 Kentucky Derby. "Blood Horse" magazine ranked him as the seventh-greatest horse of the 20th century, while the Associated Press ranked him as number three, in a tie with Citation, with only Secretariat and Man o' War outranking him.

From Quiz Kentucky Derby 2013

Answer: Gary Stevens

Gary Lynn Stevens of Caldwell, Idaho dropped out of high school to become a jockey. He won the Derby in 1988 on Winning Colors, in 1995 on Thunder Gulch, and in 1997 on Silver Charm. (Winning Colors was the last filly to win the Derby in the 20th century.) After retirement, Gary found work in 2006 as a commentator for NBC Sports and TVG Network (the first horse-racing specialty channel in the USA). He also took up acting and played jockey George Woolf in the movie "Seabiscuit" (2003). The fifty-year-old had to change his life and get back in shape to ride again, and on Derby Day 2013 he weighed less than he did before retirement. Jerry Bailey, who rode Sea Hero to victory in the 1993 Kentucky Derby, also retired around the same time as Gary Stevens, and together they worked as sports analysts for NBC. Amazed at Stephen's accomplishment, Bailey commented on race day 2013 that he could never be like Gary!

From Quiz Pedigrees: Kentucky Derby Winners

Answer: Whirlaway

Whirlaway was the fifth Triple Crown winner. In 1941 Whirlaway won the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes, and Belmont Stakes. Whirlaway's ancestors included Ben Brush, the winner of the 1896 Derby. Count Fleet won the Derby in 1943, while Swaps won in 1955.

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Last Updated Dec 21 2024 5:55 AM

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