The Four Fastest Derbies 



When Old Rosebud, owned by H. C. Applegate, 

 ran the Derby distance of one mile and one-quarter 

 in 2:03 2/5 in 1914, he established a record that 

 stood for seventeen years. Twenty Grand, owned by 

 Greentree Stable, lowered the Derby mark to 2:01 

 4/5 in 1931, after having set a new American time 

 record of 1:36 for two-year-olds the preceding fall 

 in the Jockey Club Stakes at Churchill Downs. 



Twenty Grand's record stood for ten years, until 

 1941 when Calumet Farm's Whirlaway bettered it by 

 two-fifths of a second, running the mile and one- 

 quarter in 2:01 2/5. While he did not set a record 

 himself, Glen Riddle Farm's War Admiral is the only 

 other Derby winner to better the record set by Old 

 Rosebud. 



Whirlaway's record for the race is within one and 

 two-fifth seconds of the sum of the five fastest 

 quarters run in the races won by Whirlaway, Twenty 

 Grand, and War Admiral. The sum of those five 

 fastest quarters is 2:00. 



Below are the fractional times for the four fastest 

 runnings of the Kentucky Derby at one and one- 

 quarter miles: 



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