2011 Kentucky Derby Graded Earnings List

Updated Sunday, May 1, 2011

 The Kentucky Derby 137 Graded Stakes Earnings will likely determine the participants in the 137^th running of the $2 million Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands (Grade I) on Saturday, May 7. The Kentucky Derby field has been limited to 20 starters since 1975, and graded stakes earnings accumulated in prestigious races on the “Road to the Kentucky Derby” have helped determined the field for the 1 ¼-mile classic since 1986. The Kentucky Derby 137 Graded Stakes Earnings List includes all 3-year-olds – colts, geldings and fillies – who were made eligible to this year’s Triple Crown at $600 per horse when the early nomination period closed Jan. 22, and a late period for nominations at $6,000 each that closed March 26. Twenty horses have entered the Derby every year since 2004, and 10 of the last 12 years. The 20^th and final spot in the starting gate – a.k.a. “the bubble” horse – has varied year to year. Last year, it took a record $218,750 for eventual fourth-place finisher Make Music for Me to make the field. In 2009, it took only $55,500 for Nowhere to Hide to complete the 20-horse lineup. Over the last five years, the final horse to make the field has earned an average of $130,450 in graded stakes races. In the case of a tie for the final entry position or the determination of all remaining starters, preference is given to horses that accumulated the highest earnings in non-restricted stakes races. If a tie still remains, the final spots in the starting gate will be determined by lot or a “shake.” There is no “also-eligible” list. In addition to Triple Crown nomination fee, owners must pay $25,000 to enter the Derby by 10 a.m. ET on Wednesday, May 4, and an additional $25,000 to start. If there are less than 20 Triple Crown nominees entered, a horse may be supplemented for $200,000. The Kentucky Derby post position draw – a tradition “pill pull” in which horses’ entry blanks are pulled simultaneously with a numbered pill to determine what stall a horse will break from the starting gate – will be held at Churchill Downs on Wednesday, May 4, at 5 p.m. ET (Live on VERSUS). The Derby winner will receive gold trophy plus an estimated $1.24 million payday. A total of $400,000 will be awarded to the runner-up, $200,000 to third, $100,000 to fourth and $60,000 to fifth. The 1 ¼-mile Derby, which is the oldest continuously held sporting event in America since its inaugural running at Churchill Downs in 1875, is the first leg of horse racing’s coveted Triple Crown classics: three races at three racetracks over three distances in a five-week period. Two weeks after the Derby on Saturday, May 21 is the 136^th Preakness Stakes near Baltimore at Pimlico Race Course over 1 3/16 miles. The annual series concludes three weeks after the Preakness on June 11 with the 143^rd Belmont Stakes – the 1 ½-mile “Test of the Champion” – at New York’s Belmont Park. A Triple Crown sweep – one of the most difficult feats in all of sports – hasn’t occurred in 33 years and has been accomplished on just 11 occasions: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977) and Affirmed (1978). Fifty others have finished one win shy of the honor.

 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands

Grade I, $2 million-guaranteed Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (1 ¼ miles at Churchill Downs on Saturday, May 7):

Likely (20): Uncle Mo ($1,360,000), Dialed In ($840,000), Archarcharch ($780,000), Comma to the Top ($671,000), Toby’s Corner ($625,000), Pants On Fire ($623,000), Midnight Interlude ($600,000), Soldat ($540,000), Brilliant Speed ($450,000), Master of Hounds ($441,884), Twice the Appeal ($400,000), Nehro ($400,000), Mucho Macho Man ($370,000), Decisive Moment ($301,000), Animal Kingdom ($285,000), Stay Thirsty ($260,000), Santiva ($242,397), Watch Me Go ($235,000), Shackleford ($212,000) and Twinspired ($197,500).

Next in Line: Derby Kitten ($120,000 in graded stakes earnings plus $15,400 in non-restricted stakes earnings), Mr. Commons ($120,000 in graded stakes earnings and $0 in non-restricted stakes earnings) and Sway Away ($111,500).