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| Kentucky Derby 2024 Horses |
On Saturday, May 4, the 150th Kentucky Derby will take place at the renowned Churchill Downs Racecourse. The excitement around the Louisville racetrack and the strong field of racers are making this sesquicentennial celebration promising. It ought to be an eventful race.
It's critical to assess the horses the public will watch on the track and their chances of winning as post time draws near. The popularity of the Derby is partly due to the small number of regular competitors. Every year, the audience is presented with a fresh combination of horses and jockeys. True, there is solace in the known, but every year there's something extra unique about the Derby and the horse that gets to catch lightning in a bottle.
Kentucky Derby Horses 2024
The official website of the Kentucky Derby provides a complete list of all 20 participating horses, along with their morning line odds as of the time of writing.
Fierceness: 5-2
Sierra Leone: 3-1
Catching Freedom: 8-1
Forever Young: 10-1
Just A Touch: 10-1
Dornoch: 20-1
Honor Marie: 20-1
Just Steel: 20-1
Track Phantom: 20-1
Stronghold: 20-1
Reilience: 20-1
Mystik Dan: 20-1
Catalyic: 30-1
T O Password: 30-1
Endlessly: 30-1
Domestic Product: 30-1
Epic Ride: 30-1
Grand Mo The First: 50-1
Society Man: 50-1
West Saratoga: 50-1
The group includes underdogs with compelling stories, such as West Saratoga, whose trainer is battling cancer, and other horses that are clear favorites.
How Many Horses Race in the Kentucky Derby?
There are twenty horses allowed to race in the Kentucky Derby each year. But this was not always the case. There were fifteen horses entered in the first Kentucky Derby, which took place 150 years ago. Up until 1974, the number of entries varied year. There were 23 horses entered in that year's Derby, which drew criticism from the assembled media as well as the jockeys. The Derby field was limited to 20 horses starting in 1974 in order to maintain competition and prevent overcrowding on the racetrack.
It's also one of the distinctive features of the Derby. There can only be 14 horses entered in big horse events like the Belmot Stakes and Preakness each year. Churchill Downs' senior director of communications noted the race's popularity and length when the subject was posed a few years ago about why the Derby stuck with 20 instead of narrowing the field to meet other events of its kind, according to the Courier-Journal.
In other words, because the Derby is the biggest race of the year, a larger field may be accommodated because to its 1 1/4-mile course.
How Does a Horse Qualify For the Kentucky Derby?
Each horse in the field has to compete in a set of races called The Road to the Kentucky Derby in order to be eligible to compete in the Kentucky Derby in 2024. Between each Derby, there are dozens of these races held around the globe. Each race results in a specific number of points being awarded to the top five horses.
The top 20 horses overall in terms of points at the conclusion of the racing season receive a post at the Kentucky Derby. You're now prepared and eager to participate in the Kentucky Derby horse racing conversation. Have fun competing.