Kentucky Durby Question

[oleos93]

A 3 yr old has to win at least ONE stakes, either grade 1, 2 or 3 to be eligible to run in the Kentucky derby correct? Do they have to be of certain pedigree? What elce is required? Do you have to know someone that knows someone?

I go back to Mind That Bird and love how he got there, I am just wondering if everyone has that change or do they have to be with a top notch trainer with top notch pedigree or can a horse that has speed and wins have a chance as well?

Of course I am not asking for this year, but boy do I have a promising almost 2 yr old!!! I just want to know what a small timer like me has to do to get that far. I said the same thing about this horses sire, 9 yrs ago but injury set him back to never race!!

[Bast]

A 3 yr old has to win at least ONE stakes, either grade 1, 2 or 3 to be eligible to run in the Kentucky derby correct? Do they have to be of certain pedigree? What elce is required? Do you have to know someone that knows someone?

I go back to Mind That Bird and love how he got there, I am just wondering if everyone has that change or do they have to be with a top notch trainer with top notch pedigree or can a horse that has speed and wins have a chance as well?

Of course I am not asking for this year, but boy do I have a promising almost 2 yr old!!! I just want to know what a small timer like me has to do to get that far. I said the same thing about this horses sire, 9 yrs ago but injury set him back to never race!!

Right now the only qualification is graded earnings. If all of those earnings were from finishing 2nd in graded stakes races, that still qualifies if the horse is placed among the top 20 earners.

There are no other qualifications. "Top notch trainer" is an eye of the beholder thing. "Top notch pedigree" is largely a matter of fashion.

[Patuxet]

It also takes a helluva lot of money -- a minimum of $51,100 in fees alone!

Early nominations costs $600. Later than January and that jumps to $6000. And if you wait until a month or so before the race it becomes a hefty $200,000. It costs $25,000 just to enter the race and another $25,000 to start. Then add in another $500 jockey fee for starters that finish beyond 3rd place. It's still the sport of kings, robber barons and Wall Street charlatans.

[Sailor Kenshin]

A track and those who promote and mount a race need money. Who's going to provide it?

[majxmom]

In 1998, Myung Cho ran a maiden named Nationalore in the Derby. The field was not oversubscribed and the horse had placed in a couple of nice stakes. Sadly, the horse was continually entered in stakes races, and eventually broke down as a maiden, although he won over $300,000, as I recall. You do NOT have to even be a winner to enter, as long as horses with preferred entry status (i.e., graded earnings) do not bump you out.

[madelyn]

It also takes a helluva lot of money -- a minimum of $51,100 in fees alone!

Early nominations costs $600. Later than January and that jumps to $6000. And if you wait until a month or so before the race it becomes a hefty $200,000. It costs $25,000 just to enter the race and another $25,000 to start. Then add in another $500 jockey fee for starters that finish beyond 3rd place. It's still the sport of kings, robber barons and Wall Street charlatans.

But the purse is Two Million Dollars. So what do you expect?

[wangkw]

It also takes a helluva lot of money -- a minimum of $51,100 in fees alone!

Early nominations costs $600. Later than January and that jumps to $6000. And if you wait until a month or so before the race it becomes a hefty $200,000. It costs $25,000 just to enter the race and another $25,000 to start. Then add in another $500 jockey fee for starters that finish beyond 3rd place. It's still the sport of kings, robber barons and Wall Street charlatans.

Interesting..can a qualified owner sell his card he got early in the stage to an interested party, who is, says, just ranked outside top
20 when the gate has closed ?

[madelyn]

It's not the owner who is qualified, it's the horse.

[wangkw]

Yes...I meant the owner of a qualified horse.

[da hossman]

The owner of a "qualified horse" can sell his horse or part of his horse anytime he wants.

[wangkw]

Yes..there were many instances in the past in which owners sold their fellows after sealing a qualification to race...one of such
examples, and is a prominent one, is War Emblem...In this way, the new owner will get to sit in the VIP lounge and watch his
adopted boy running for the roses.

Alternatively, he can, for enuff greenbacks, pull his fellow out of the field (on whatever excuse) to make room for the one who
has just missed the cut ...that is a gamble...the owner who "buys" dearly for a card needs keep his fingers crossed. But both
the buyer and sell should have done their sum many times over, right ?

[oleos93]

Patuxet
How early of a nimination at the $600 mark? Are you talking a year before? And who do you pay it to?

[Jorge]

Haven't seen yet such a case but imagine a household name undefeated sophomore with 15 victories with the equivalent of over 1 million in earnings (let's say, from a very rich country) without any Gr-1, Gr-2 or Gr-3 status. Its possible. Out of the Derby without any special analysis?

[ElPrado]

a) it was Mine That Bird, not Mind That Bird.
b) The horse was already a major stakes performer in Canada,
which is how he got the earnings to get in the race.