Kentucky Derby Burgoo II Trivia Quiz

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.

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.

Answer: Donerail (1913)

A jockey named Roscoe Goose from Jeffersontown, Kentucky (now a suburb of Louisville), rode the bay colt during the 39th running of the Kentucky Derby on May 10, 1913. Donerail had odds of a mind-blowing 91-1 (indicating bettors did not think he at all was likely to win), with a payout of $184.90 for a $2 bet, the minimum wager one can place at Churchill Downs. Donerail also set a Derby speed record in 1913 with a time of 2:04⅘, which by modern standards would be considered extremely slow (and it would be surpassed by Old Rosebud in the very next Derby). The favorite in 1913 was Ten Point, who lost to Donerail by only half a length.

Donerail briefly retired to stud in 1917, but that December he was donated to the U.S. Army Remount Service for their new breeding program for the U.S. Cavalry. The following year he was gelded and re-sold as a race horse, but on turf rather than dirt. There is no record of the date of this Derby champion's death.

Answer: Bill Shoemaker

Bill Shoemaker (1931-2003) entered the Kentucky Derby 26 times between 1952 and 1988. His mounts won the Run for the Roses four times (1955, 1959, 1965, 1986), the Preakness Stakes twice (1963, 1967), and the Belmont Stakes five times (1957, 1959, 1962, 1967, 1975). Elected to the Racing Hall of Fame in 1958, Texas-born Shoemaker later became a successful trainer. In 1991, while driving drunk, Shoemaker rolled his SUV over, and he ended up paraplegic. No longer able to train horses, he became a mystery writer, with three published novels that were often compared to the work of Dick Francis, another jockey-turned-author. He passed away in 2003 at 72 years old.

Through 2019, Mike Smith (b. 1965) rode in the Kentucky Derby 25 times, including a victorious ride in the 131st Derby on Giacaomo in 2005, and a disappointing ride in the 145th Derby (finishing tenth in a field of nineteen) in 2019.

Answer: Calumet Farm

The eight Kentucky Derby champions owned by Calumet Farm were Whirlaway (1941), Pensive (1944), Citation (1948), Ponder (1949), Hill Gail (1952), Iron Leige (1957), Tim Tam (1958), and lastly Forward Pass (1968), who became the official winner after Dancer's Image was disqualified for a disallowed drug found in his blood. Two of these horses, Whirlaway and Citation, also won the Triple Crown.

The beautiful, white-fenced farm was begun by the Calumet family, who made their millions from the iconic Calumet Baking Powder. In the 1990s, however, following the suspicious and controversial death of Alydar, 2nd-place winner in the 104th Derby (1978) and a leading sire, Calumet fell on hard times. When real-estate tycoon Brad Kelley bought Calumet for $35.9 million, he helped restore the sprawling Thoroughbred farm to much of its former glory.

WinStar Farm (2010/Super Saver), Sackatoga Stable (2003/Funny Cide), and Chicago Stable (1888/Macbeth II) each have produced only one Derby winner.

Answer: Grindstone

When Grindstone, ridden by Jerry Bailey (later a commentator for NBC Sports), eked out that Derby victory, it the second consecutive win for trainer D. Wayne Lukas (and also Bailey's second win, though not consecutively).

At one point, however, Grindstone was 16½ lengths off the lead, in 15th place out of 19. Grindstone rallied at the end of the backstretch, wove between horses along the inside around the far turn, angled out five wide entering the final stretch, and just at the wire passed Cavonnier to win the race! It became the closest finish in a Derby since 1959 (when Tomy Lee won by a nose against Sword Dancer). It was also the first time since 1933 that a horse (Brokers Tip) had won the Derby after only five races. For the 17th time in a row as well, the betting favorite (Unbridled's Song) had lost the race. Both Unbridled's Song and Grindstone were sired by Unbridled, the 1990 Kentucky Derby winner.

Grindstone's official time was 2:01. Five days after the Derby, veterinarians diagnosed Grindstone with a bone chip, whereupon owner W.T. Young retired the horse to stud at Overbrook Farm, Lexington, Kentucky. Eventually the stallion moved to Oakhurst Farm in Oregon. He produced a son, Birdstone, who in turn produced a son, Mine That Bird, who won the Derby in 2009 and like his grandsire defeated a favorite.

Answer: Ben Jones

Ben A. Jones (1882-1961) got his start on small racing circuits out West and in Mexico. His horses draped in the Garland of Roses were Hill Gail (1952), Ponder (1949), Citation (1948), Pensive (1944), Whirlaway (1941), and Lawrin (1938), the only Kansas-bred horse ever the win the Kentucky Derby. Jones became the first person to train two Triple Crown winners: Whirlaway (1941) and Citation (1948), and he later took over management of Calumet Farm. In 1958 Jones was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

Through the 145th Derby, Bob Baffert trained the winning horse five times (1997, 1998, 2002, 2015, 2018). As with Jones' horses, two of them, Justify (2018) and American Pharoah (2015) won the Triple Crown. Todd Pletcher had only two Derby wins: Super Saver (2010) and Always Dreaming (2017). Mentor to both Bob Baffert and Todd Pletcher, D. Wayne Lukas carried off four Derby trophies (1988, 1995, 1996, 1999).

Answer: 1892

On May 11, 1892, only three horses raced in the 18th running of the Kentucky Derby. This record is not likely to be beaten, given that so many trainers and owners try desperately to get their horse in the Kentucky Derby, that Churchill Downs had to *limit* the field to 20 horses in 1975, after a whopping 23 horses had stampeded down the track in 1974. In 1892, however, the Kentucky Derby was not yet the prestigious horse race it was destined to become. The winner, Azra, beat front-runner Huron by a nose and received a purse of $4,230. Last was Phil Dwyer, who brought his owner a purse of all of $150.

The record was duplicated in 1905, the 18th Kentucky Derby, when Dr. Leggo and McClellan were scratched, leaving only three contenders. The bay colt Agile won easily, in front the entire race, and received a purse of $4,230.

Answer: 5

Post position is determined by a drawing held before the race. Where a horse is positioned in the starting gate can impact a jockey's and trainer's strategy depending on the personality and running style of the Thoroughbred. Since 1930, when a mechanical starting gate was first used at Churchill Downs, ten horses started from post position no. 5 and went on to win the Kentucky Derby. Interestingly, just half of those wins occurred between 1875 and 1996, while the other half occurred between 1997 and 2019!

In contrast, the least successful post position is no. 17. Not one horse who has drawn no. 17 managed to win the Kentucky Derby between 1875 and 2019. (And for those Derby geeks who say no one has won from post positions 21, 22, or 23, either: well, that is true, but since 1975 the field has been limited to 20 horses, and before that very few races ever had more than 20 horses in the field.)

Here's a list of the wins from post lucky post no. 5:
Always Dreaming (2017);
California Chrome (2014);
Funny Cide (2003);
War Emblem (2002);
Silver Charm (1997);
Strike the Gold (1991);
Count Fleet (1943);
Johnstown (1939);
Bold Venture (1936); and
Twenty Grand (1931).

Answer: Maximum Security

In the 94th Kentucky Derby, Dancer's Image (1968) was the first Derby winner to be disqualified for any reason (namely doping, for which the horse's owner Peter D. Fuller claimed until his death that he was framed). But for actually committing an infraction on the racetrack, the first to be disqualified was Maximum Security, trained by Jason Servis and ridden by Luis Saez in the 145th Kentucky (2019).

Briefly, stewards saw evidence in video recordings of the race showing that Maximum Security veered wide and caused interference which could have led to a disastrous pile-up with several horses, including Long Range Toddy, whose jockey had raised an objection. Therefore, stewards moved Maximum Security's ranking from 1st to 17th, immediately behind Long Range Toddy, and runner-up Country House became the official winner.

Maximum Security and trainer Jason Servis received a lot of sympathy at the time, but that all dissipated when Servis and other defendants were indicted in March 2020 for doping horses, including Maximum Security. The scandal rocked the racing world as the owner of Maximum Security called for a vet to examine his horse, and drug tests for the colt's earlier races had to be re-evaluated.

Determine (1954) was the first grey horse to win the Kentucky Derby. Patch is the only one-eyed horse on record to race in Kentucky Derby; in the 143rd running (2017), he finished fourteenth.