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The Derby is a Grade I event with a purse of $3,000,000 in 2022. [35] Predicted rain and thunderstorms in Louisville, Kentucky suggested that the Derby could be raced in muddy or sloppy conditions. Only three horses in the Derby had previously raced on an "off" track, and such precipitation had the chance to alter the race dynamics. [ 36 ]
The draw for the event was held at Churchill Downs at 2:00 p.m. on May 1, 2023. [8] Forte was installed as the 3-to-1 favorite and drew post number 15. Three horses were withdrawn from the Derby two days before the race.
[2] [3] It was the first nose margin victory in this event since the 1996 Kentucky Derby won by Grindstone and the first three-horse photo finish in this race since the 1947 Kentucky Derby, which was won by Jet Pilot.
Despite the rain, a crowd of 157,813 attended the event, the eighth largest in Derby history, [3] [22] and the wettest of all time. [23] A record $149.2 million was bet on the Derby itself from all sources, while the full card earned an all-source handle of $225.7 million, up 8% from the previous year's record.
People protesting the death of Breonna Taylor, which happened in Louisville in April 2020, also gathered outside Churchill Downs before the event took place after marching from Downtown Louisville. [ 10 ] [ 11 ] Hundreds of these protesters had been gathered in Downtown Louisville for 101 days leading up to the Derby. [ 10 ]
The Kentucky Derby is only open to three-year-old Thoroughbreds, [9] thus entrants in the 2021 race were foaled in 2018, as part of the North American foal crop of 21,181. [10] [a] The field is limited to twenty horses who qualify based on points earned in the 2021 Road to the Kentucky Derby, a series of designated races that was first introduced in 2013.
The disqualification is the first in Derby history to remove the first-place finishing horse for an on-track infraction; [6] Dancer's Image was disqualified days after the 1968 Kentucky Derby for testing positive for an illegal medication.
A "deluge" started about two hours before the race, turning a fast track sloppy. [10] Lion Heart, breaking near the rail, ran a quick opening quarter mile of 22.99 seconds to get good position going into the first turn.