Anticipation for the 2024 Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve is ramping up as the calendar nears March, and all eyes will be on Hot Springs, Ark., Saturday, Feb. 24 for the 64th running of the Rebel Stakes at Oaklawn Park.
Welcome to 2024 Kentucky Derby Prospect Profiles, where we’ll take a look each week at a recent winner on the Triple Crown trail, usually from the Road to the Kentucky Derby schedule that offers qualifying points for the first leg of the series. The 1 ¼-mile Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve will be held May 4, 2024, at Churchill Downs.
Each race day, jockeys suit up with gear that echoes their predecessors. Those early riders wore a silk cap and jacket with the owner’s colors, but those caps offered no protection from injury and those jackets were no shield against flying hooves. With dirt, mud, and debris flying into their faces, these jocks faced any number of dangers on the racetrack: falling off their mounts and potentially being trampled; tearing muscle and breaking limbs hitting the rail; hurtling over a horse’s head or falling with their mounts only to be trapped underneath the thousand-pound animal.
After finishing second in two consecutive graded stakes, Stronghold broke through by defeating his rivals in a commanding performance in the $400,000 Sunland Park Derby Feb. 18 at Sunland Park.
A $2.3 million buy at The Saratoga Sale at Fasig-Tipton in 2022, Sierra Leone is the most expensive horse sold at public auction of 346 early nominees to the Triple Crown. More importantly, he is also one of the fastest — a fact that was on display Feb.
