Fate of Kentucky Derby Favorites

SI Staff | May 3, 2014

Fate of Kentucky Derby Favorites /

Fate of Kentucky Derby Favorites

2014 Kentucky Derby

The 5-2 favorite, California Chrome pulled away down the stretch for a dominant win at the 140th Kentucky Derby. California Chrome and jockey Victor Espinoza made a decisive move and quickly sprinted clear. They finished the 1¼ miles in 2:03.66.

2013 Kentucky Derby

130505121738-kentucky-derby-frakes-dfdd-single-image-cut.jpg — Bill Frakes/SI

Derby favorite Orb won for a fifth consecutive time, rallying down the stretch on a muddy track to finish 2½ lengths ahead of Golden Soul in a time of 2:02.89. Here's a look at how other Kentucky Derby favorites fared in the famed mile-and-a-quarter race at Churchill Downs.

2012 Kentucky Derby

Bodemeister (right), trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert, set a blistering pace on a muggy, 85-degree afternoon at Churchill Downs. The 4-1 favorite appeared poised to pull off a wire-to-wire win, but the fast fractions caught up to him down the stretch as I'll Have Another ran him down to win by 1 1/2 lengths.

2011 Kentucky Derby

The 4-1 morning line favorite, Dialed In drew the eighth post position and finished eighth as well in a race won by Animal Kingdom.

2010 Kentucky Derby

Jamie Squire/Getty Images; Bill Frakes/SI

With a morning line of 3-1, Lookin At Lucky remained the favorite despite dropping to 6-1 at post time. However, it was the second favorite, Super Saver, at 8-1 that won the race. The track was wet and sloppy due to rain the previous day and the morning of the event as jockey Calvin Borel (inset) captured his third Derby win in four years. Lookin At Lucky, hampered by drawing the No. 1 post, was pinned on the rail early and did not get adequate running room until it was too late, finishing sixth.

2009 Kentucky Derby

After I Want Revenge was scratched the day of the race due to a sore ankle, it was Friesan Fire (green) who led the morning line. He was hit hard out of the gate, ultimately being shuffled back to an 18th place finish. It would be 50-1 long shot Mine That Bird (inset) who would pull off a 6 3/4 length victory that year.

2008 Kentucky Derby

Big Brown lived up to all the pre-race hype when he crushed the field with an impressive 4 3/4 length victory at the Kentucky Derby in 2008. He went on to win the second leg of the Triple Crown by 5 1/4 lengths at the Preakness, but then became the first Triple Crown hopeful to finish last (ninth) in the Belmont Stakes.

2007 Kentucky Derby

The 2-year-old and 9-2 favorite was in the back of the pack -- second to last, to be exact -- before bolting to beat Hard Spun by 2 1/4 lengths for the win. Street Sense would finish second by a nose to eventual two time horse-of-the-year Curlin in the Preakness Stakes.

2006 Kentucky Derby

Don Emmert/AFP/Getty Images; Bill Frakes/SI

It was one of the most dominating wins ever in the Derby, but it wasn't done by 3-1 morning favorite, Brother Derek, who finished fourth. No, the amazing feat went to Barbaro (inset), whose 6 1/2-length victory margin was the fifth-largest in 132 years of the race.

2005 Kentucky Derby

Jeff Haynes/AFP/Getty Images; Bill Frakes/SI

George Steinbrenner's colt was the 5-2 favorite heading into the race, but the Yankees boss couldn't reign in the trophy quite like he could in baseball. In the second-biggest upset in Churchill history, the 50-1 Giacomo (inset) took the victory by a half-length. Bellamy Road fell to seventh.

2004 Kentucky Derby

Ahead by 2 3/4 lengths, the 4-1 undefeated favorite annihilated the field to become just the second favorite to win the Derby since Spectacular Bid won in 1979. Smarty Jones won the second leg of the Triple Crown with a victory at the Preakness Stakes by a record margin of 11 1/2 lengths, but lost the Belmont Stakes by a length to 36-1 Birdstone .

2003 Kentucky Derby

Three-year-old Empire Maker (center) was the top pick (5-2) heading into the 129th Kentucky Derby, but the colt finished second. Instead, the New York-bred gelding Funny Cide (2nd from right) took the crown.

2002 Kentucky Derby

Someone had to be the favorite, and in one of the most competitive fields of 20 horses, it was Harlan's Holiday with a 9-2 morning line. However, 20-1 longshot War Emblem (inset) quickly made that fact irrelevant by winning the Derby wire-to-wire.

2001 Kentucky Derby

The 9-5 favorite (green) disappointed many -- including the second largest crowd ever to attend the Kentucky Derby (154,210) -- after finishing fifth. The winner, Monarchos (far left, yellow), moved up from as far back as 13th to capture the victory.

2000 Kentucky Derby

The 2-1 favorite was by far the top horse at the 126th Derby -- from the morning line to the finish line. With a 1 1/2-length victory, Fusaichi Pegasus managed to finish in 2:01 -- the sixth fastest time in Derby history. Although he was the first favorite to win the Kentucky Derby since Spectacular Bid in 1979, Fusaichi Pegasus was defeated by Red Bullet in the second leg of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes.

1999 Kentucky Derby

AP; Matthew Stockman/Getty Images; Bill Frakes/SI

For the 20th straight year, the betting favorite failed to win it all. In 1999, both of Bob Baffert's horses entered the race with 9-2 lines, but Excellent Meeting (left) finished fifth while General Challenge (right) took 11th. The winner? Charismatic. With 30-1 odds, Charismatic (inset) moved up from the middle of the back to take the lead for good.

1998 Kentucky Derby

Indian Charlie (right) wasn't quite the lucky charm as the eventual Preakness winner and near Triple Crown victor Real Quiet took the Derby victory.

Published May 3, 2014

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