"Has the Derby winner already raced" of all the "Derby Rules" this one has taken a licking and kept on ticking.
The inevitable surge of adrenaline usually gets served in early January at Gulfstream Park or Santa Anita when a flashy maiden breaker posts a dominating win by multiple lengths, or records the magical "Triple Digit Beyer" that leaves all speed wonks heading to the Futures windows at the Wynn in Las Vegas.
Reality is a dish best served cold! Since 1970, 694 horses have entered the starting gate at Churchill Downs the first Saturday in May. The list of horses who have contested the derby with zero starts as a juvenile include the mighty Forego who in 1973 began his career on January 17th at Hialeah finishing fourth and then coming back 12 days later to win a Maiden Special Weight race by 8 widening lengths. A future multiple horse of the year, Forego was able to finish 4th in Secretariats Derby!
Air Forbes Won, Pulpit, Strodes Creek, Devil His Due and most recently Curlin and Summer Bird most attempted to win the Derby with no juvenile foundation. Overall 43 horses since 1970 have raced in the Derby with zero starts as a two year-old. The 43 starters include 26 Derby's, with 3 runners in 2000 (Trippi, Curule and Wheelaway) attempting to break the "curse of 1882" when Apollo captured the roses with no Juvenile races.
Strodes Creek 2nd place finish in 1994 has been the best finish to date. Many of the lightly raced horses were very fast and precocious with 9 of the 43 horses recording Maiden victories of 5 lengths or more, including Curlin's 12 length win, Wavering Monarch breaking his Maiden by 7 lengths, Dunkirk by 5 and Air Forbes Won rolling into the 1982 Derby undefeated and the 5/2 favorite before finishing 7th.
The list of light raced horses includes trainers: Charlie Whittingham, Wayne Lukas, Todd Pletcher, Allen Jerkens, Jack Van Berg, John Gosden and Richard Mandella.
So armed with 127 years of racing history and a database that goes back to 1970, I'm going to predict "yes the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner has already raced!
So armed with 127 years of racing history and a database that goes back to 1970, I'm going to predict "yes the 2011 Kentucky Derby winner has already raced!
