2019 Kentucky Derby

The Kentucky Derby is only open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds, thus entrants in the 2019 race were foaled in 2016, mostly as part of the North America foal crop of roughly 22,500. The field is limited to twenty horses who qualify based on points earned in the 2019 Road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of designated races that was first introduced in 2013. This point system replaced the previous graded stakes race earnings system. Most positions in the Derby starting gate are earned on the main Road, consisting of 34 races in North America plus one in Dubai. The seven major preps for the Kentucky Derby are the Louisiana Derby, UAE Derby, Florida Derby, Wood Memorial, Blue Grass Stakes, Santa Anita Derby and Arkansas Derby. Each of these races provided the winner with 100 qualifying points, essentially guaranteeing that horse a berth in the Derby provided the owner pays the required nomination and entry fees. The first three of these major preps were run in late March and were won by By My Standards, Plus Que Parfait and Maximum Security respectively. The next three major prep races were run on April 6, and were won by Tacitus, Vekoma and Roadster respectively. The last major prep was run on April 13, and was won by Omaha Beach. ==Field==

The cutoff to qualify for the Derby was 40 points, the highest such total since the points system was adopted. The post position draw took place on April 30, after which Omaha Beach was installed as the 4–1 morning line favorite. However, he was scratched from the race on May 1 due to an entrapped epiglottis, which impaired his breathing. Because of his withdrawal, Bodexpress drew into the field as program number 21. With the subsequent scratch of Haikal (originally post position 11) combined with Omaha Beach (originally post position 12), horses with higher program numbers moved over two place in the starting gate—for example, Code of Honor (saddle cloth 13) started from post position 11. Trainer Bob Baffert, whose five Derby wins include Triple Crown champions American Pharoah and Justify, had three of the leading contenders: Champion Two-Year-Old Game Winner, Santa Anita Derby winner Roadster, and Arkansas Derby second-place finisher Improbable who would go on to be the 2020 Champion Older Dirt Male after three Grade One wins. "This year is different," said Baffert. "With [Justify and American Pharoah] I knew I had the horse and felt like I needed a little luck. Now I've got three nice horses, and there's a lot of parity. It's wide open." ==Race description==

A crowd of 150,729 turned out for the Derby. The rain held off until late afternoon, but then drenched the track, turning the track condition sloppy. The stewards upheld the objections and disqualified Maximum Security to 17th place, after Long Range Toddy. The disqualification is the first in Derby history to remove the first-place finishing horse for an on-track infraction; The ruling proved controversial, with Maximum Security's owners blaming jockey Tyler Gaffalione on War of Will for causing the incident. War of Will's trainer, Mark Casse, responded that the interference by Maximum Security was worse than he originally thought and that he too would have filed an objection if War of Will had finished in the money. The stewards later issued a fifteen-day suspension on Maximum Security's jockey, Luis Saez, for "failure to control his mount and make the proper effort to maintain a straight course thereby causing interference with several rivals". It was the first Kentucky Derby win for trainer Bill Mott, who commented that it was "bittersweet" to win the race in such a manner even though it was normally a routine matter to disqualify a horse for such an incident. At odds of 65–1, Country House became the second-highest-priced winner (behind Donerail in 1913) in the 145-year history of the Derby. == Results ==

Note: The margins listed above are based on Maximum Security's first-place finish before disqualification. Track condition: sloppy Times: mile – 22.31; mile – 46.42; mile – 1:12.50; mile – 1:38.63; final – 2:03.93. Splits for each quarter-mile: (22.31) (24.31) (25.88) (26.13) (25.30) Source: Equibase chart Payouts The table below gives Kentucky Derby payout schedule • $2 exacta: $3,009.60 • $0.50 trifecta: $5,737.65 • $1 superfecta: $51,400.10 • $1 Super High Five: $544,185.90 Wagering Wagering on the Kentucky Oaks day totaled US$60.2 million, including US$19.4 million on the Kentucky Oaks race. Wagering on the Kentucky Derby day totaled US$250.9 million, including US$165.5 million on the Kentucky Derby race. Wagering across the Kentucky Derby Festival totaled US$343.0 million. ==Subsequent Grade I wins==

Several horses from the 2019 Derby went on to win Grade I races later in their career, including Maximum Security, who was named the champion three-year-old colt. • Code of Honor – Travers Stakes, Jockey Club Gold Cup • War of Will – Preakness Stakes • Improbable – 2020 Hollywood Gold Cup, Whitney, Awesome Again Stakes • Vekoma – 2020 Carter Handicap, Metropolitan Handicap • Maximum Security – Haskell Invitational, Cigar Mile Handicap • Omaha Beach (scratched from Derby) – Santa Anita Sprint Championship, Malibu Stakes == Notes ==