The 138th Kentucky Derby was the running of the

Kentucky Derby The Kentucky Derby () is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of . Colt (horse), Colts and geldin ...

in 2012, and took place on May 5 at 6:24 pm

Eastern Daylight Time The Eastern Time Zone (ET) is a time zone encompassing part or all of 23 states in the eastern part of the United States, parts of eastern Canada, and the state of Quintana Roo in Mexico. * Eastern Standard Time (EST) is five hours behin ...

(EDT) at

Churchill Downs Churchill Downs is a horse racing complex in south Louisville, Kentucky, United States that hosts the annual Kentucky Derby. It opened in 1875 and was named for Samuel Churchill, whose family was prominent in Kentucky for many years. The first ...

. Due to

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

, the race was known as the Kentucky Derby Presented by

Yum! Brands Yum! Brands, Inc. (sometimes called simply Yum!) is an American multinational fast food corporation. It is a spin-off of PepsiCo, after they acquired KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell. PepsiCo divested the brands in 1997, and these consolidated as ...

. The race was televised in the United States on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

television network. The race was won by I'll Have Another, ridden by Mario Gutierrez, with a time of 2:01.83, while favorite

Bodemeister Bodemeister (foaled April 28, 2009) is a Thoroughbred race horse who won the 2012 Arkansas Derby and finished second to I'll Have Another in the 2012 Kentucky Derby and 2012 Preakness Stakess. He went on to become the sire of 2017 Ken ...

finished second and Dullahan was third. A record crowd of 165,307 was on hand at the track for the race.

Contenders

Prior to the race, the field was considered "unusually strong"; four time Derby winning trainer

D. Wayne Lukas Darrell Wayne Lukas (born September 2, 1935, in Antigo, Wisconsin) is a retired American horse trainer and a U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee. He has won twenty Breeders' Cup races, received five Eclipse Awards for his accomplishments, and his h ...

called it the "best bunch I've seen in a long time". The major contenders were Bodemeister (Arkansas Derby), Union Rags (Champagne, Fountain of Youth Stakes), Gemologist (Wood Memorial), Creative Cause (Norfolk, San Felipe Stakes), Take Charge Indy (Florida Derby), Dullahan (Blue Grass Stakes) and Hansen (Breeders' Cup Juvenile, Gotham Stakes). I'll Have Another went off as a relative longshot at 15:1 despite winning both the Robert B. Lewis and Santa Anita Derby.

Race

Thunderstorms the night before led to the cancellation of morning training for the riders, and, at 8:00 am EST, the track was labeled "sloppy". However, closer to the race, conditions were upgraded to "fast", the best condition for a dirt track. My Adonis was drawn into the race as an also eligible entry. If there were any entries that scratched, My Adonis would have been able to start in the race. Bodemeister, ridden by Mike E. Smith, was leading at the quarter-mile mark with a time of 22.32 seconds. Bodemeister maintained his lead at the half-mile mark, at 45.39 seconds. During the final

furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one-eighth of a mile, equivalent to any of 660 foot (unit), feet, 220 yards, 40 rod (unit), rods, 10 chain (unit), chains, or a ...

, I'll Have Another overtook Bodemeister to win by one and a half

length Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with Dimension (physical quantity), dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a Base unit (measurement), base unit for length is chosen, ...

s. I'll Have Another was the first Kentucky Derby winner to win from post barrier 19, while Mario Gutierrez won on his first attempt in the Kentucky Derby. Union Rags, the second-favorite to win at 9:2 odds, finished seventh. All-sources wagering on the Kentucky Derby race was also record setting, up 18.8% from 112.0-million to $133.1-million. The previous record for all-sources wagering on the Kentucky Derby race was $118.4-million and was established in 2006.

Payout

The 138th Kentucky Derby Payout Schedule * $2

Exacta Parimutuel betting, or pool betting, is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the ''house-take'', or ''vigorish'', are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among a ...

: (19–6) paid $306.60 * $1

Trifecta Trifecta A trifecta is a parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Australia, this is known as a tricast in ...

: (19–6–5) paid $1,532.80 * $1

Superfecta {{Wiktionary The superfecta is a type of wager in the United States and Canada parimutuel betting in which the bettor, in order to win, must pick the first four finishers of a race in the correct sequence. This is even more unlikely than a success ...

: (19–6–5–13) paid $48,046.40

Field

The field was announced on May 2, 2012. *Margins – lengths, neck *Time – 2:01:83 *Track – Fast

Subsequent Grade I wins

Several horses in the Derby went on to subsequent Grade I wins. * I'll Have Another –

Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...

* Union Rags –

Belmont Stakes The Belmont Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I stakes Thoroughbred racing, race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of . Colt (horseracing), Colt ...

* Dullahan – Pacific Classic * Alpha –

Travers Stakes The Travers Stakes is an American Graded stakes race, Grade I Thoroughbred horse race held at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York. It is nicknamed the "Midsummer Derby" and is the third-ranked race for American three-year-olds accor ...

, 2013

Woodward Stakes The Woodward Stakes is an American Grade Il stakes race and is one of the premier races for older thoroughbred horses in the United States. It is named for prominent racehorse owner William Woodward. The race was first run in 1954 at Aqueduct Ra ...

* Trinniberg –

Breeders' Cup Sprint The Breeders' Cup Sprint is an American Weight for Age Grade I Thoroughbred horse race for horses three years old and older. Run on dirt over a distance of 6 Furlongs ( mile), the race has been held annually since 1984 at a different racetrack in t ...

References

External links

* {{Thoroughbred Racing on NBC Kentucky Derby races

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

May 2012 sports events in the United States 2012 in Louisville, Kentucky

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...