Three Significant Kentucky Derby Storylines

This year’s edition of the Kentucky Derby will celebrate a significant milestone of 150 straight years of racing beneath the iconic Twin Spires. It will surely be mentioned a time or two or three on Saturday’s NBC broadcast. Here are a few other eye-opening stories that may be shared before the horses enter the starting gate.

Another Kentucky Derby without Bob Baffert

The most recognized figure in horse racing will not be at Churchill Downs for the First Saturday in May. This will be Baffert’s third consecutive year on the sideline after Medina Spirit was disqualified in 2021 following a failed post-race drug test.

Baffert and Churchill Downs have been publicly feuding ever since Medina Spirit was replaced with Mandaloun. His suspension at Churchill Downs was extended last summer. Baffert dropped a lawsuit against the track this spring, but CDI did not reverse course, keeping Baffert’s Arkansas Derby winner Muth out of the starting gate.

Mike Repole Revenge Tour

Mike Repole is arguably the most frontward-facing owner in all of horse racing. The New Yorker has a deep stable with plenty of big wins in his home state, but the Kentucky Derby has eluded him in the most cruel ways possible.

In 2011 Repole’s Uncle Mo was the morning line favorite. The 2-year-old champion did not dominate in his last start out, suffering an upset in the Wood Memorial. Following the race, he was diagnosed with a gastrointestinal infection. Unfortunately, antibiotics did not remedy the situation and Uncle Mo was scratched.

Twelve years later, Repole once again had the morning line favorite, Forte, another Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner. Ahead of Kentucky Derby 149, horse fatalities stole all of the headlines with multiple breakdowns at Churchill Downs, including Wild on Ice, who was set to start in the race before a training accident.

Veteranarians were on high alert and whispers of a potential scratch of Forte grew louder throughout the week. On the morning of the Derby, Forte was scratched with a bruised foot, much to Repole’s dismay.

Now Repole has another chance with the morning line favorite who won the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile. Will Fierceness finally get Repole to the Winner’s Circle? Let’s just hope this one makes it to the starting gate.

The Longest Kentucky Derby Long Shot

Larry Demeritte will become just the second black trainer to start a horse in the Kentucky Derby since 1951, and the first since 1989, when West Saratoga takes the track on May 4. That’s merely a footnote in Demeritte’s story.

Originally from the Bahamas, his father died while trying to break a horse. It did not deter him from joining the family business. Losing didn’t either. He never won more than a dozen races in a year and when West Saratoga won the Grade 3 Iroquois Stakes last fall at Churchill Downs, it was just his second career graded stakes victory. On top of it all, Demeritte has been battling cancer since 1996.

It’s an improbable story beautifully told by the Courier Journal’s Jason Frakes that you must read before Steve Buttleman makes the Call to the post.