American Derby

The American Derby is an American Thoroughbred horse race run annually at Arlington Park in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The inaugural American Derby was held at Chicago's old Washington Park Race Track on the city's South Side and raced there until 1905 when the facility was closed following the state's ban on gambling, and horse racing and the track was demolished. 1893's American Derby was the 2nd richest race in the U.S. during the 19th century.^[1]

There was no racing in Chicago in 1895, 1896, 1897, 1899, and again in 1905 and 1906.^{[citation needed]} The effect would be that the American Derby was not run from 1905 through 1925, except for 1916 when it was hosted by the Hawthorne Race Course in Stickney, Illinois.^{[citation needed]}

Revived in 1926, it evolved to become one of the important events of the American racing season that drew some of the very best horses from all over the country. It was run at the new Washington Park Race Track in Homewood, Illinois, in 1926 and 1927 and then was held at the Arlington Park course in 1928 before returning to the new Washington Park in 1929 where it remained through 1957. From 1958 until its closure in 2021, the race was run at Arlington Park. In 2022, the race took place at Churchill Downs.^[2]

Since 1992 the American Derby has been run on turf. Previously, it had been raced on the turf course from 1955 through 1957 and from 1970 through 1976. Over the years, the distance has varied:

• 1+1⁄2 miles: 1884–1904, 1926, 1927, 1958–1961, 1966–1974, 1976
• 1+1⁄4 miles: 1928–1951, 1962–1965, 1977–1991
• 1+3⁄16 miles: 1916, 1955–1957, 1992–2014
• 1+1⁄8 miles: 1952–1954, 1958–1961, 1966–1974, 1976, 2015–2018
• 1+1⁄16 miles: 1975, 2019–2021
• 1 mile: 1952–1954, 1958–1961

Most wins by a jockey:

• 5 – Bill Shoemaker
• 5 – Eddie Arcaro
• 4 – Isaac Burns Murphy

Hall of Fame jockey George Woolf won the race three years in a row from 1942 to 1944.

Most wins by a trainer:

• 3 – Horace A. Jones, Ben A. Jones, Dermot K. Weld, William I. Mott (2005, 2006, 2007)

Most wins by an owner:

• 8 – Calumet Farm
• 4 – Lucky Baldwin