The 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby will take place this Saturday with horses sprinting out of the gate around 6:34 PM ET. Some of the early favorites include Classic Empire (4-1), McCracken (5-1), and Always Dreaming (5-1).
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Along with cheering for the pony you've picked to win, make sure to pay attention to the time in which the winner finishes. If it finishes under the two-minute mark, you've just witnessed history.
That's because unlike most sporting events involving humans, record times are not broken on a consistent basis like in the Olympics, for example. To give a comparison, the women's 100 meter record in 1973 was 10.9 seconds by East Germany's Renate Stecher. The current record is held by Florence Griffith-Joyner of the United States at 10.49 seconds – an eternity in the 100 meter dash.
Although horses are better fed, trained, and handled with kid's gloves now more than ever, it hasn't translated into record-shattering times throughout the years.
So by now you might be wondering.: What horse has the fastest Kentucky Derby time in history?
Let's take a look.
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1962: Decidedly, 2:00.40
The gray colt would end his career with an impressive 11 wins, 9 second-place, and 4 third-place finishes.
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1985: Spend a Buck, 2:00 1/5
Winning the race wire to wire, Spend a Buck was named 1985's Horse of the Year and Champion Three-Year-Old Colt.
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1964: Northern Dancer, 2:00
The only horse to ever finish the Kentucky Derby in two minutes flat, Northern Dancer would go on to live a long and prosperious 29 years.
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2001: Monarchos, 1:59.97
Monarchos is one of only two horses to ever finish under the two-minute mark in the Kentucky Derby.
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1973: Secretariat, 1:59 2/5
The fastest time in Kentucky Derby history belongs to Secretariat who won the triple crown in 1973 – the first in the sport at that time in 25 years..
