The 1931 Kentucky Derby was the 57th running of the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby is a horse race held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, almost always on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The competition is a Grade I stakes race for three-year ...

. The race took place on May 16, 1931. Horses

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, Up, and Don Leon scratched before the race. Twenty Grand's winning time set a new Derby record (later broken).1931 Kentucky Derby Results Tables
/ref> The winner was owned and bred by the

Greentree Stable Greentree Stable, in Red Bank, New Jersey, was a major American thoroughbred horse racing stable and breeding farm established in 1914 by Payne Whitney of the Whitney family of New York City. Payne Whitney operated a horse farm and stable at Sar ...

Helen Hay Whitney Helen Julia Hay Whitney (March 11, 1875 – September 24, 1944) was an American poet, writer, racehorse owner/breeder, socialite, and philanthropist. She was a member by marriage of the prominent Whitney family of New York. Early life She was ...

. It marked the fourth time in the Derby's history that a woman owned the winning horse and the second time that a woman was both owner and breeder. The 1931

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () on ...

was held one week prior, on May 9, making this the most recent time that the Preakness was run before the Kentucky Derby. Until the

2020 Kentucky Derby The 2020 Kentucky Derby (officially, the 2020 Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve) was the 146th Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, September 5, 2020, in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is one of the three legs of the American T ...

and

2020 Preakness Stakes The 2020 Preakness Stakes was the 145th Preakness Stakes, a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of miles (1.9 km). The race is one leg of the American Triple Crown and is held annually at Pimlico Race Course in Ba ...

were rescheduled to follow the

2020 Belmont Stakes The 2020 Belmont Stakes was the 152nd running of the Belmont Stakes and the 109th time the event took place at Belmont Park. It was run June 20, 2020, and was won by Tiz the Law, the first New York-bred winner of the event since Forester in 1 ...

due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, 1931 was the most recent time that the Kentucky Derby was not the first leg of the

Triple Crown Triple Crown may refer to: Sports Horse racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United States) ** Triple Crown Trophy ** Triple Crown Productions * Canadian Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing * Trip ...

Full results

*Winning Breeder:

; (KY)

Payout

* The winner received a purse of $48,725 and $5,000 Gold Cup. * Second place received $6,000. * Third place received $3,000. * Fourth place received $1,000.

References

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

May 1931 sports events {{KentuckyDerby-stub