150th Kentucky Derby: What’s in a Post Position?

A custom-made, 20-stall starting gate designed by Australian-based Steriline Racing made its debut at the 2020 Kentucky Derby, which was rescheduled that year to mid-September due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It replaced Churchill Downs’ standard starting gate, made by United Pruett, which continues to be used for all other races.

All starting gates at Churchill Downs are outfitted with high-quality foam padding that protects both jockeys and horses from injury. This seamless padding is applied to all metal surfaces of the starting gate, including front and rear poles, face plates, handrails, superstructure, and pontoons.

Champion Fierceness was labeled the early 5-2 favorite for the 150^th Kentucky Derby and, unfortunately, the colt drew the 17 spot in the gate. Why unfortunately? In the 44 times there have been at least 17 starters since a gate was implemented in 1930 no horse has collected the win, with one second and two thirds. The five post has been most successful with ten winners in 94 years.

Winning Kentucky Derby Post Positions

Post Positions (since the use of a starting gate in 1930):

Post     Record       Win%            ITM%   Last Winner

1          94-8-5-5          8.5%                19.1%     Ferdinand (1986)

2          94-7-5-13        7.4%                26.6%    Affirmed (1978)

3          94-5-8-8          5.3%                22.3%   Real Quiet (1998)

4          94-5-6-4          5.3%                16.0%    Super Saver (2010)

5          94-10-8-4     10.6%            23.4%   Always Dreaming (2017)

6          94-2-8-3          2.1%                13.8%    Sea Hero (1993)

7          93-8-6-6          8.6%                21.5%    Mandaloun (2021)

8          93-9-5-5          9.7%                20.4%    Mage (2023)

9          90-4-6-8          4.4%               20.0%    Riva Ridge (1972)

10        87-9-6-10        10.3%             28.7%    Giacomo (2005)

11        83-2-6-4          2.4%               14.5%    Winning Colors (1988)

12        79-3-3-4          3.8%               12.7%    Canonero II (1971)

13        77-5-5-7          6.5%                22.1%    Nyquist (2016)

14        67-2-6-6          3.0%               20.9%   Carry Back (1961)

15        62-6-2-1          9.7%                14.5%    Authentic (2020)

16        51-4-3-3          7.8%               19.6%   Animal Kingdom (2011)

17        44-0-1-2          0.0%                6.8%

18        36-2-4-0          5.6%               16.7%   Country House (2019)

19        30-1-1-0          3.3%                6.7%      I’ll Have Another (2012)

20        18-2-0-1          11.1%              16.7%    Rich Strike (2022)

US Racing Team

The writing team at US Racing is comprised of both full-time and part-time contributors with expertise in various aspects of the Sport of Kings.