How do they choose the horses that get to race in the Kentucky Derby?

Question

How do they choose the horses that get to race in the Kentucky Derby?

Answer 1

They qualify by graded stakes earnings!!! If over $120,000 in stakes, they can probably enter to be in the Derby!!!

Answer 2

The best thing to do is pick a name you like and make sure the hourse has 1-10 chance of winning or better

Answer 3

it's simple....the top 20 money earners in graded stakes make the field. if a horse had won 10 times but had no graded stakes money, it would not be able to run the the derby.

Answer 4

The first "gate" a horse has to pass through to get into the Derby starting gate are the conditions:  for three-year-old Thoroughbreds.  So only Thoroughbreds (horses registered in the Jockey Club Stud Book) age 3 are eligible.

The second "gate" is the horse must be nominated to the race.  It used to be that there was a separate nomination for each Triple Crown race, but now they have a combined Triple Crown nomination, which costs $600, and closes January 20th of the horse's 3-year-old year.  This year, 2007, there were 450 horses nominated.

There is now a provision for late nomination of horses.  If you miss the January deadline, you can pay $6,000 by March 31 of the horse's 3-year-old year to nominate him/her.  

Once the deadline for late nominations is over, there is no provision for any horse that missed them to get in.  

If you have nominated your horse, the third "gate" you now have to go through is paying the entry fee of $25,000 by the deadline of the Thursday before the Derby.  If 20 or fewer horses pay the entry fee, then all horses that pay the entry fee get to run.

If more than 20 pay the entry fee, then the graded stakes earnings clause kicks in.  Because the Derby field is limited to a maximum of 20 horses, if more than 20 enter, then the field is limited to the top 20 horses by earnings in graded stakes.  A graded stakes is a race which has been deemed by a selection committee to attract fields of sufficient quality as to deserve a grade of 1, 2, or 3.  Graded stakes cannot be restricted in any way other than gender-- no state-bred stakes, no restrictions by earnings, etc.  They usually have to have a history behind them of drawing fields of sufficient quality to warrant a grade.

The 20 (or less) horses that enter the starting gate to actually run in the Derby have to pay an additional $25,000 for the privilege of starting.  Any horses that have been excluded by the graded stakes earnings clause get their entry fees refunded.

There is an additional clause in the Kentucky Rules of Racing, rarely invoked:  the stewards can, at their sole discretion, refuse the entry of any horse.  This clause is rarely used, but it was invoked this year at Keeneland in the Blue Grass stakes, when first-time starter Olympic Chief was refused entry because the stewards had concerns for his safety and the safety of the other horses in the field if he started.  (Olympic Chief was allowed to start in the Arkansas Derby, and he finished last.)

So that's how horses get into the Derby.  Hope this answers your question!

Answer 5

what they do is there is a bunch of races and more and more then the bunch of horses that have won get into the kentuky durby

Answer 6

they have to qualify like in nascar

Answer 7

The owners have to pay a qualifying fee from the time the foal is registered, and they also have to pay a yearly fee that increases every year.  That is how they make up the purse for the Derby.

If you had a Thoroughbred, and you could pay the fees, your horse could be nominated for entry in the Derby.  It might not run, but it could be nominated.  If you ran it in the graded races and it earned enough money to be in the top twenty, then the horse would go on to the Derby.

Every year over 400 horses are nominated by their owners for the Derby, yet only the 20 horses that have won the most money in the winter's biggest graded stakes races will earn the right to run.

Hope this helps!

WOW!  Karin C had a great answer... I think you should pick hers as best...

Answer 8

Most owners hope to make the Derby with their 3 yo. There are various "Prep Races" run beginning in late February, your horse must have run in at least some of these. Actually most owners/trainers begin at the age of 2! To qualify for the Derby your horse MUST have Graded Stakes earnings. By the time the Derby rolls around what determines who gets in and who doesn't is Graded Stakes earnings.

Street Sense was shoe-in this year due to his earnings from last years Breeder's Cup Juvenile win.