The 1991 Kentucky Derby was the 117th 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 4, 1991, with 135,554 people in attendance.

The Road to the 1991 Kentucky Derby

Heading into the Derby, it was seen as a wide-open race with multiple horses having a chance at victory.

Fly So Free Fly So Free (March 3, 1988 – September 21, 2003) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse. A grandson of U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee Damascus, he was owned by New York City Broadway theatre producer and music publishing company ...

had an impressive resume coming into the race. He won the Grade-3 Tremont Breeders' Cup Stakes, the Grade-1 Champagne Stakes, the Grade-1 Breeders' Cup Juvenile, the Grade-2

Hutcheson Stakes The Hutcheson Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race held annually at Gulfstream Park in Hallandale Beach, Florida. An event raced on dirt, it is open to three-year-old horses. Historical notes Inaugurated on March 31, 1954, the Hutcheson ...

, the Grade-2 Fountain of Youth Stakes and the Grade-1 Florida Derby. Through these wins, he had already defeated most of the field in various races.

Best Pal Best Pal (February 12, 1988 – November 24, 1998) was an American Hall of Fame champion racehorse, who retired as the all time record for purses of any California-bred earning (since surpassed) for his owners, the Golden Eagle Farm, US$5.6 milli ...

also had an impressive resume with multiple wins at the Grade-3 1990 Balboa Stakes, the Grade-2 Del Mar Futurity, the Grade-1 Norfolk Stakes and the Grade-1 Hollywood Futurity. He also finished ahead of Sea Cadet at the 1991 Santa Anita Derby.

Hansel "Hansel and Gretel" (; german: Hänsel und Gretel ) is a German fairy tale collected by the German Brothers Grimm and published in 1812 in ''Grimm's Fairy Tales'' (KHM 15). It is also known as Little Step Brother and Little Step Sister. Hanse ...

had won the Grade-3 July 1990 Tremont Breeders' Cup Stakes, the Grade-2 September 1990

Arlington-Washington Futurity Stakes The Arlington-Washington Futurity is a Listed horse race for Thoroughbred two-year-olds. It is scheduled to run at a distance of one mile on the turf at Arlington Park, Arlington Heights, Illinois every fall and as at 2020 offers a purse of $100 ...

, the March 1991 Grade-2

Jim Beam Stakes The Spiral Stakes (known as the Jeff Ruby Steaks, a homophone of the word Stakes, for commercial reasons) is a Grade III American thoroughbred horse race at a distance of a one and one-eighth miles on the synthetic track in late March at Turfway ...

(where he defeated Wilder Than Ever) and the April 1991 Grade-2

Lexington Stakes The Lexington Stakes is a Grade III American Thoroughbred horse race for three-year-old horses at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on the dirt run annually in April during at Keeneland Race Course in Lexington, Kentucky during their spr ...

. However, he was defeated soundly twice by

Strike the Gold Strike the Gold (March 21, 1988 – December 13, 2011) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse best known for winning the 1991 Kentucky Derby. Upon the death of 1987 Derby winner Alysheba in March 2009, Strike the Gold became the oldest living Ke ...

had won the April 1991 Blue Grass Stakes defeating favorite

by a half-length after finishing 2nd to

at the 1991 Florida Derby. Green Alligator captured the April 1991 Grade-3

California Derby The California Derby is a race for Thoroughbred horses held early in the year at Golden Gate Fields. An ungraded stakes, it is open to three-year-olds at a distance of one and one-sixteenth miles on a Tapeta surface. The Derby offers a purs ...

in his only stakes win. Quintana was victorious at the March 1991 Grade-3 Rebel Stakes winning over fellow 1991 Kentucky Derby competitor, Corporate Report. Alydavid won the Grade-3 April 1991 Derby Trial Stakes and was a half-brother of

. Sea Cadet won the January 1991 El Camino Real Derby and the March 1991

San Felipe Stakes The San Felipe Stakes is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California. It is a Grade II event open to three-year-old horses. Normally held in early -March, it is raced at a distance of one and one ...

, placing multiple positions ahead of Green Alligator.

Mane Minister Mane Minister (foaled 1988 in Kentucky, died in 2010) is an American Thoroughbred racehorse best remembered as the first (and {{as of, 2018, lc=y, the only) horse to finish third in all three of the U.S. Triple Crown races. Bred by Normandy Far ...

picked up smaller victories in the January 1991 listed Santa Catalina Stakes and the 1991 listed Pirate Cove Stakes. Paulrus, Another Review, Corporate Report, Happy Jazz Band, Forty Something, Lost Mountain, Subordinated Debt and Wilder Than Ever had never won a stakes race and were seen as wildcards. Dinard won the Grade-2 1991

San Rafael Stakes The San Rafael Stakes was an American Thoroughbred horse race run at Santa Anita Park, located in Arcadia, California. The race was a Grade III event with a purse of $150,000 and was open to three-year-olds willing to race one mile (8 furlongs) ...

. He defeated

in what was called "the single most compelling performance of the year" in the Grade-1 1991 Santa Anita Derby. He was considered an early favorite for the Kentucky Derby, but suffered a foreleg injury and was declared out. Olympio, winner of the 1991 Arkansas Derby, who had traded wins with Dinard, was also seen as a possible candidate for the Kentucky Derby. However, his owners decided to skip the race for the 1991 Preakness Stakes, where he finished 7th. Cahill Road was also seen as a contender after winning the April 1991 Wood Memorial Stakes, but injured his left front leg in the victory and was retired.

Full results

* Winning Breeder:

Calumet Farm Calumet Farm is a Thoroughbred breeding and training farm established in 1924 in Lexington, Kentucky, United States by William Monroe Wright, founding owner of the Calumet Baking Powder Company. Calumet is located in the heart of the Bluegras ...

; (KY)

Payout

* $2 Exacta: (4-10) Paid $73.40

References

{{Kentucky Derby

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

Derby Kentucky

The Road to the 1991 Kentucky Derby

Full results

Payout

See also

References