Florida Derby

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2020 Florida Derby Entries and Results

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Watch the 2020 Florida Derby

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Florida Derby History

First contested in 1952, the Florida Derby is a worthy prize, with $1 million and grade one status at stake. Originally staged in early or mid-March for most of its years – during which time its victors usually had another lead-up race to the Kentucky Derby – it was switched to five weeks before the Run for the Roses in 2005, meaning it’s now usually a final lead-up.

The race is one of the key prep races in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. The first four finishers earn points on a 100-40-20-10 basis. The winner will be guaranteed to have enough points to secure a Kentucky Derby start, and the 40 points for the runner-up has been enough to earn a start every year since the Road series began in 2013.

However, it’s not just points that makes the Florida Derby important. In its 66-year history, the Florida Derby field has contained the Kentucky Derby winner 24 times – more than any other prep race. Fifteen of those horses completed the Florida Derby – Kentucky Derby double, including the two most recent winners, Nyquist and Always Dreaming. A further five Florida Derby winners didn’t win at Churchill Downs but went on to win the Preakness Stakes or the Belmont Stakes.

Not surprisingly, the winner’s roll contains a number of all-time great North American horses, including Hall of Famers Nashua, Needles, Tim Tam, Carry Back, Northern Dancer, Alydar, Spectacular Bid, and Holy Bull.

The Fountain of Youth Stakes in early March is an important lead-up – 14 winners of that race have taken out the Florida Derby – but it’s just as likely to be won by horses that raced somewhere else at their previous start.

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Previous Winners of the Florida Derby