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Kentucky Derby

American

noun

Trademark.

a horse race for three-year-olds, run annually since 1875, on the first Saturday in May, at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky.: the first race in the Triple Crown.

Kentucky Derby British

noun

a race for three-year-old horses run annually since 1875 at Louisville, Kentucky

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Kentucky Derby Cultural

The most famous American horse race, held each spring at Churchill Downs racetrack in Kentucky.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

The Kentucky Derby has come to Louisville on the first Saturday of May for nearly a century.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

Ridden again by Jose Ortiz, the Kentucky Derby winner overcame a moderate pace in the Belmont Stakes and outfinished Commandment to win a thrilling Belmont Stakes by 1¼ lengths at Saratoga Race Course.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 6, 2026

Sunk cost and an invitation to watch the Kentucky Derby at a friend’s apartment kept me going.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 14, 2026

The 44-year-old native of Saratoga Springs, N.Y., made history Saturday as the first female trainer to win the Kentucky Derby when Golden Tempo rallied from far back to defeat Renegade by a neck.

From Los Angeles Times • May 2, 2026

A colt named Stagehand, the early favorite for the 1938 Kentucky Derby, had been assigned just 100 pounds, the lowest possible impost.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023