The opening race of the fabled Triple Crown is the Kentucky Derby. Run on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, the race has been held every year since 1875.
It is considered the crown jewel of North American horse racing and is the race most watched by viewers on television. It also usually has the highest attendance of any single-day sporting event in the USA. The Derby is followed two weeks later by the Preakness Stake, which is then followed in three weeks by the Belmont Stakes.
The Run for the Roses is the biggest betting event on the North American horse racing calendar and ends the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. Secretariat holds the race record at a time of 1:59.40. This was set in 1973 on his way to winning the Triple Crown. The current prize money for the winning horse is $1,860,000 from a total prize fund of $3,000,000. Eddie Arcaro and Bill Hartrack have won this race a record five times each among jockeys. Ben A. Jones leads with six as a trainer entering 2019. The longest shot to win was Donerail at +9100 in 1913.
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