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Kentucky Derby Trivia Questions and Answers 2019


by - 4/26/2019

Kentucky Derby contenders will Run for the Roses.

We are just over a week away from the Kentucky Derby. This is the hardest time of the season for me. The field is set. Most of the horses are in Kentucky. A lot of the serious work is done. Now all we can do is wait. And it takes forever. My favorite way to pass the time each year at this point is with trivia - it's good for the mind. As I do every year, I have constructed a test for you - Kentucky Derby trivia questions and answers. The first five are relatively easy - if you watch the race most years you have a chance. The last five, though, are just brutal. If you do well on them, then you really know your stuff. Good luck!

The softball questions

1. The fastest Derby of all time was 1:59.40. That's really fast for a mile and a quarter. It was set by a Triple Crown winner - one of the last five ones. Which one?

a) Justify

b) American Pharoah

c) Secretariat

d) Seattle Slew

e) Affirmed

2. If you go to the Kentucky Derby, you will have a mint julep. In fact, you will almost certainly have far too many of the official drink of the Derby. It is made of just four ingredients - mint, simple syrup, ice and which liquor?

a) Vodka

b) Gin

c) Bourbon

d) Rum

e) Scotch

3. What is the approximate annual attendance at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Derby day?

a) 50,000

b) 100,000

c) 150,000

d) 200,000

e) 50 bajillion

4. The Kentucky Derby purse has been raised to a record level of $3 million this year - a million more than last year. How many of the finishers in the race share in that purse?

a) 20

b) 10

c) 7

d) 5

e) 4

5. A record $149.9 million was bet on the Kentucky Derby last year, up from the previous record of $139.2 million set the prior year. What is the lowest amount you can bet on a horse to win the race?

a) $1

b) $2

c) $5

d) $10

e) $20

The tough ones

6. Candy Ride is one of two sires represented with two horses in the expected Kentucky Derby field - War Front is the other. Candy Ride sired both Vehoma and Game Winner. Candy Ride, who was undefeated on the track, has not yet sired a Triple Crown race winner. He has, however, sired a horse that won both the Breeders' Cup Classic and the Pegasus World Cup. Who was it?

a) Curlin

b) Arrogate

c) American Pharoah

d) Gun Runner

e) California Chrome

7. The great sire Tapit is represented in this race by Tacitus. Tapit has sired three Belmont Stakes winners - Creator, Tapwrit and Tonalist. He has had less success in the Derby, though, with the best finishes being a pair of fourth-place showings. Which two of his sons have finished fourth?

a) Cupid and Tapwrit

b) Mohaymen and Frosted

c) Frosted and Tonalist

d) Mohaymen and Creator

e) Cupid and Hansen

8. Bob Baffert leads the field with five Kentucky Derby wins in his career. Todd Pletcher is next with just two. With another win this year Baffert would move into a tie for the most all-time. Who would he be tied with?

a. Ben A. Jones

b. Sunny Jim Fitzsimmons

c. Lucien Laurin

d. Herbert J. Thompson

e. D. Wayne Lukas

9. Master Fencer is the third colt based in Japan to run in the Derby - Ski Captain and Lani preceded him - but he is the first colt bred in Japan in the race. The great-grandsire of this colt, the top sire ever in Japan - a 13-time champion stud - is a Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. Who is it?

a) Silver Charm

b) Real Quiet

c) Sunday Silence

d) Easy Goer

e) Alysheba

10. Steve Asmussen, who trains Long Range Toddy, leads all living trainers with 8,404 wins as I write this. Only Dale Baird, who died in 2007 in an accident while driving a horse trailer, had more with 9,445. Asmussen is only 53, so he is all but a lock to break the record one day. Five other trainers in the field this year are among the Top 50 all time in wins. Which of these five ranks highest on the list?

a) Todd Pletcher

b) Bob Baffert

c) Bill Mott

d) Mark Casse

e) Bret Calhoun

Answers

1. C - Secretariat in one of just three colts to run the Derby in under two minutes. Remarkably, one of the other two is Sham, who was a soundly beaten second to Secretariat in that 1973 Derby. The other is Monarchos, who benefitted from a freakishly fast track and a race that set up perfectly for him in 2001.

2. C - It's Kentucky, so it only makes sense that a mint julep includes bourbon, and a whole lot of it. The first one might burn going down, but just keep going - it only gets easier.

3. C - The record attendance is 170,513.

4. D - Until 2005, only four horses shared in the Derby purse, but it was changed then to be consistent with other races.

5. B - You can bet any dollar value you want to win starting at $2. The minimum bet has been $2 to win for many decades, so betting is relatively much less expensive now than it has been.

6. D - Gun Runner is probably the most successful of an impressive group of offspring from Candy Ride. Gun Runner won two Derby preps in 2016 - the Risen Star and Louisiana Derby - before finishing third in the Derby in his only Triple Crown appearance. Gun Runner's first foal was born on Jan. 17 of this year, so we are still a couple of years away from seeing what he can pass along.

7. B - In 2015 Frosted was second in the stretch, but American Pharoah blew by him like he was standing still, and he wound up fourth. The next year, Mohaymen was the fourth betting choice at post time, and fourth over the line.

8. A - Jones won six and went on to win the Triple Crown with two of those winners - as Baffert has. Five of the six were for Calumet Farm, which has won a record eight Derby crowns, but none since 1968.

9. C - Sunday Silence won the first two legs of the Triple Crown in 1989 before losing by a wide margin to Easy Goer in the Belmont. He rebounded to win the Breeders' Cup Classic that year and was named horse of the year. Despite his success, his breeding caused little interest in Kentucky, so he started his career in Japan, where he was very successful. Not only is the great-grandsire of Master Fencer, but he also sired Hat Trick, who is the sire of Win Win Win in this year's Derby.

10. C - Bill Mott has 4,908 wins to sit seventh overall. Pletcher sits 10th. Calhoun is 31st, one spot ahead of Baffert. Casse sits in 46th. Asmussen has won the Preakness and Belmont, but not the Derby. The highest-ranked Derby winner is D. Wayne Lukas, who sits eighth.

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