Stakes: Grade I For 3-year-old thoroughbreds; 1 mile and ¼
Purse: $2,000,000
Kentucky DerbyThe Kentucky Derby, also called Run for the Roses, is held every first Saturday of May and is the first leg of the Triple Crown Races. The race is being run at Churchill Downs Race Track in Louisville, Kentucky.
In its 2005 running, the Derby purse has been increased to $2 million from $1 million making it the country's richest race and ranks among the nation's most lucrative races.
The Derby was first run on May 17, 1875 at 1½ miles, the same distance as the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris, in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 horse racing enthusiasts.
It is today one of America's most prestigious and media-hyped races.
Only three Kentucky Derby winners have ever gone on to bag the ever elusive Triple Crown victory: Secretariat in 1973, Seattle Slew in 1977, and Affirmed in 1978 - all immortal champions in their own right.
1973 Kentucky Derby champion and first ever Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the all-time stakes record of 1:59.40.