10 things to know about Kentucky Derby

The statue of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro sits outside the main entrance of Churchill Downs, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, in Louisville, Ky. With a Sugar Bowl football win and a men's college basketball national championship within the past six months, and the Kentucky Derby horse race less than a month away, it's a great time to be a sports fan in Kentucky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
The statue of Kentucky Derby winner Barbaro sits outside the main entrance of Churchill Downs, Wednesday, April 10, 2013, in Louisville, Ky. With a Sugar Bowl football win and a men’s college basketball national championship within the past six months, and the Kentucky Derby horse race less than a month away, it’s a great time to be a sports fan in Kentucky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

Here are 10 things to know about the 139th Kentucky Derby to be run on May 4 at Churchill Downs in Louisville. A full field of 20 3-year-old colts is expected for the 1 ¼-mile race, including one co-owned by Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino and five — possibly a record six — trained by Todd Pletcher. Most of the horses will be running the distance for the first time.

The race draws upward of 150,000 people, many of whom never actually see a horse run live because they are focused on the party atmosphere, especially in the infield. The Derby’s signature drink is the mint julep served over crushed ice in a souvenir glass. The race is likely America’s best-dressed sporting event, with many people topping off their fancy outfits with elegant/outsized/outrageous hats.

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1. PLETCHER TAKES AIM: Trainer Todd Pletcher has five probable starters and possibly a record sixth for the race. His horses are Verrazano, Overanalyze, Revolutionary, Palace Malice and Charming Kitten. He might also enter Winning Cause. Pletcher had five starters in 2007, when his highest finish was sixth. He won in 2010 with Super Saver. The only trainer to start five horses in a single year and win was D. Wayne Lukas with Grindstone in 1996.

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2. DRAW DAY: The field of 20 horses is announced on Wednesday. That’s when the draw is held to determine spots in the starting gate. Some trainers want to avoid the No. 1 post because their horse starts next to the rail and could get pinched going into the first turn. Others don’t like the No. 20 post because their horse is on the far outside and has to quickly make its way over toward the rail to save ground going into the first turn. The most winners — 12 each — have come from the No. 1 and No. 5 spots. Last year’s winner, I’ll Have Another, broke from the No. 19 spot. The odds are set on draw day, too.

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3. KRIGGER GOES FOR HISTORY: Kevin Krigger, a 29-year-old jockey from the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be aboard Goldencents. The horse is co-owned by Louisville basketball coach Rick Pitino and trained by Doug O’Neill, who won last year’s Derby. Krigger will be the second black rider in the Derby since 1921. He could be the first black jockey to win since Jimmy Winkfield won for the second time in 1902. Black jockeys dominated the Derby in its early years, winning 15 of the first 28 races between 1875 and 1902. Krigger rode his first horse at age 5 in St. Croix.

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4. UNBEATEN VERRAZANO: The colt trained by Todd Pletcher is undefeated, including a win in the Wood Memorial. Verrazano didn’t race as a 2-year-old, setting him up for a chance to break one of the Derby’s oldest jinxes: no horse since Apollo in 1882 has won the Derby without racing at 2. Verrazano could be the likely Derby favorite. His jockey, John Velazquez, hopes to be recovered from race injuries in time to ride in the Derby.

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5. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE POINTS: For the first time in Derby history, the field of 20 starters is being determined by points. Churchill Downs instituted a tiered system that awards a sliding scale of points to the top four finishers in 36 designated races. The top 20 point earners at the end of the series will earn a spot in the Derby starting gate if more than 20 horses enter. If two or more horses have the same number of points, earnings in non-restricted stakes races will be the tiebreaker. From 1986-2012, earnings in graded stakes were used to decide which 20 horses ran in the Derby.

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6. OLDEST TRAINER: D. Wayne Lukas, who has the second-most Derby wins with four, has two contenders this year in Will Take Charge and Oxbow. At 77, he could become the oldest trainer to win, breaking the record of Charlie Whittingham, who was 76 when he won in 1989 with Sunday Silence. Lukas will extend his record for most Derby starters to 46 if both horses get in.

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7. CRACKLIN’ ROSIE: Rosie Napravnik is set to ride in the Derby for the second time. She finished ninth — the best result by a woman jockey — aboard Pants On Fire in 2011. No woman has won the Derby and only Julie Krone has won a Triple Crown race, taking the 1993 Belmont with Colonial Affair. Napravnik will ride Mylute, runner-up in the Louisiana Derby.

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8. THE WINNER’S SPOILS: The winning horse is draped with a garland of red roses and the winning owner receives a gold trophy.

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9. TIGHTER SECURITY: In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombings, Churchill Downs is tightening security and expanding screening of fans, employees and vendors who enter the track for the Derby. Coolers are banned again from the infield; they were allowed back in 2009. They were prohibited after the 9/11 terrorist attack in 2001. Cans, fireworks, laser lights and pointers, noisemakers and air horns are also banned. Purses must be 12 inches or less.

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10. TRIPLE CROWN STARTS HERE: Only 11 horses have swept the Triple Crown and none since Affirmed in 1978. The feat begins with a victory in the Derby, followed by wins in the Preakness and Belmont stakes during a five-week span. A horse has just one chance to win the Triple Crown series because it’s restricted to 3-year-olds. Fifty horses have finished one win shy of the Triple, including I’ll Have Another. He won last year’s Derby and Preakness, then was injured the day before the Belmont and was retired.

Story by Associated Press.

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