The Ohio Derby is an American
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
held annually in mid-to-late June at
Thistledown in
North Randall, Ohio
North Randall is a village in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 1,027 at the 2010 census.
History
Settlement at North Randall began in earnest in the 1850s when the Cleveland & Mahoning Railroad was extended to that point ...
.
The
Grade III stakes for three-year-olds is run on dirt over a distance of 1 miles.
The race currently offers a purse of $500,000.
Inaugurated in 1876 at Chester Park, a racetrack on Spring Grove Avenue in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wi ...
, the race was canceled after the 1883 running. It was revived in 1924 by the Maple Heights Park racetrack with future
Hall of Fame inductee and that year's
Kentucky Derby winner
Black Gold claiming victory. From 1928 thru 1932 the Ohio Derby was hosted by the now defunct Bainbridge Park Race Track in
Bainbridge Township, Ohio, built in 1927 by John King and Homer Kline.
Pete D. Anderson,
trainer of 2007 winner
Delightful Kiss, won this race in 1964 as the
jockey on National.
The Ohio Derby was not scheduled to be run in 2009 in order to maintain reasonable purses for area horsemen. However, an announcement was made in August that the Grade II race would run on October 3, 2009 on the Best of Ohio card. This race was downgraded from a graded stakes to a listed stakes in 2014. The race regained graded status in 2017 by The American Graded Stakes Committee of the Thoroughbred Owners and Breeders Association.
As of 2016, this race is run at 1 and 1/8th miles.
Records
Speed record:
* 1:47.86 @ 1-1/8 miles:
Skip Away (1996)
* 1:42.80 @ 1-1/16 miles: Gushing Wind (1962)
* 2:40.00 @ 1-1/2 miles: McWhirter (1877)
Most wins by a
jockey:
* 2 -
Garth Patterson (1976, 1984)
* 2 -
Pat Day
Patrick Alan "Pat" Day (born October 13, 1953, in Brush, Colorado) is a retired American jockey. He is a four-time winner of the Eclipse Award for Outstanding Jockey and was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in 1991 a ...
(1980, 1995)
* 2 -
Jacinto Vásquez
Jacinto Vásquez (born January 4, 1944 in Panama) is a retired Hall of Fame thoroughbred jockey. He rode two Kentucky Derby winners, Foolish Pleasure in 1975 and the filly Genuine Risk in 1980. He was also the regular jockey for the champion fi ...
(1982, 1990)
* 2 -
Willie Martinez (1994, 2004)
* 2 -
Shane Sellers (1998, 2003)
* 2 -
Mike McCarthy
Michael John McCarthy (born November 10, 1963) is an American football coach who is the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). From 2006 to 2018, he was the head coach of the Green Bay Packers. In 2011, he led t ...
(1999, 2000)
Most wins by a
trainer:
* 2 -
Edward D. Brown (1876, 1881)
* 2 -
Clarence S. Buxton (1931, 1932)
* 2 -
Woody Stephens (1955, 1979)
* 2 -
Richard W. Small (1986, 1999)
* 2 -
Thomas M. Amoss
Thomas M. "Tom" Amoss (born November 17, 1961, in New Orleans, Louisiana) is a trainer of Thoroughbred race horses.
A graduate of Louisiana State University with a degree in marketing and a member of Sigma Nu Fraternity, Tom Amoss had worked wit ...
(2016, 2020)
* 2 -
Brad H. Cox
Brad H. Cox (born March 3, 1980) is a Thoroughbred racehorse trainer whose most notable horses include multiple Eclipse Award winner Monomoy Girl, Knicks Go, Covfefe, Mandaloun, and Essential Quality. He had four winners at the 2020 Breeders' C ...
(2019, 2022)
Most wins by an owner:
* 2 -
Jerome H. Louchheim (1931, 1932)
* 2 -
Robert E. Meyerhoff (1986, 1999)
Winners
References
External links
2007 Ohio Derby at Thistledown racecorseThe 2009 Ohio Derby article at ''Thoroughbred Times''
{{Cleveland Sports
Flat horse races for three-year-olds
Horse races in Ohio
Recurring sporting events established in 1876
1876 establishments in Ohio
Sports competitions in Cleveland
Graded stakes races in the United States