By Callum Close
Racing fans worldwide will turn their eyes stateside in just over two weeks’ time, for the first leg of America’s ‘Triple Crown’ – the 2025 Kentucky Derby.
The Grade 1 Stakes race sees three-year-old horses battle for a pulsating 10 furlongs around Louisville’s Churchill Downs.
With a purse worth 5M USD, the race is the ‘crown jewel’ of American horse racing and is the most-watched and attended horse race in the United States.
It precedes both the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes in the racing calendar, with winners of all three races dubbed winners of the ‘Triple Crown’.
The latest to do so was the Bob Baffert-trained Justify in 2018.
Coined as “The greatest two minutes in sport”, the Americans are sure to put on a show. But how will it all unfold as they gain the attention of the racing world once more?
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When is the Kentucky Derby?
Saturday, May 3 is the date that will see thousands gather in the Bluegrass State for the 151st running of the race.
It is the third to last race of 14 on the card and post time is 6:57PM local time (11:57PM UK time).
The race is preceded by its sibling race on the Friday – the Kentucky Oaks – which is modelled off its transatlantic counterpart at Epsom.
Events including the largest annual fireworks display in North America and a steamboat race on the Ohio River, are part of the Kentucky Derby Festival – an annual event that takes place to celebrate the Derby.
It all happens within two weeks of post time.
Trainers to watch
Legendary trainer Baffert is set to return to Churchill Downs after serving a three-year suspension.
The 72-year-old boasts a record of six winners from 24 runners in the race, a total matched only by Ben Jones – who trained horses in the 1940s.
Baffert is expected to have two runners in the 2025 Kentucky Derby as he bids for the record outright, one of which is Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Citizen Bull.
Two-time Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer winner Steven Asmussen is the leading trainer of 2025 according to prize money.
He has previously trained winners of the two other races in the ‘Triple Crown’ series and is likely to have two runners looking to win his stable’s first Kentucky Derby.
Todd Pletcher has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Trainer a record eight times – most recently in 2022 – and has two horses that qualify to run in the Derby.
2021 winning trainer Brad Cox and 2019 winning trainer Bill Mott will both look to win their second Derby in this year’s renewal.
The former is second to Asmussen in this season’s standings and has two qualified runners, whilst the latter trains Sovereignty for renowned owners Godolphin.
Jockeys to watch
John Velazquez is the only jockey to have won this race more than once since 2016 – 2017 and 2020, respectively.
But, according to the standings, Irad Ortiz Jr is the leading jockey in the States.
Though he is yet to win a Derby, Ortiz Jr has won the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey in five of the last seven seasons and is a two-time winner of the Belmont Stakes.
Last year’s winning rider Brian Hernandez Jr was the first since Calvin Borel, in 2009, to win both the Oaks and the Derby.
This year, he will look to become the fifth jockey to win consecutive Kentucky Derbys.
Three-time winner Victor Espoinoza the last to do so when he won in 2014 and 2015.
Frenchman Flavien Prat moved full-time to the US in 2015 and rode Country House to victory in this race, in 2019.
He is second in this year’s standings.
How to watch on TV?
In the States, NBC and USA Network will air coverage from 2:30-7:30pm ET whilst FanDuel TV begins coverage at 10:30am ET.
UK coverage of the event will be on Sky Sports Racing, channel 415, for Sky Sports Subscribers.
