No Women Trainers Have Won Kentucky Derby
Female-Schooled Starters Number Thirteen -- D. Wayne Lukas Leads Men
Apr 29, 2009
A female trainer has yet to win the Kentucky Derby. Twelve women have tried, among them starting a total of thirteen Thoroughbreds in the spring classic, the first race of the Triple Crown series.
Mary Hirsch, daughter of famed trainer Max Hirsch, who handled such winners as Assault (1946 Triple Crown victor), Bold Venture, and Middleground, saddled the first woman-trained starter in 1937. The horse's name was No Sir, and he did as his name, finishing only thirteenth in a field of twenty that couldn't match up with the mighty War Admiral.
Twelve Female Trainers With Kentucky Derby Starters
- No. 1 --- Mary Hirsch ----- 1937 ----- No Sir, finished 13th
- No. 2 --- Mrs. Albert Roth ----- 1949 ----- Senecas Coin, DNF
- No. 3 --- Mary Keim ----- 1965 ----- Mr. Pak, 6th
- No. 4 --- Dianne Carpenter ----- 1984 ----- Biloxi Indian, 12th; 1988 ----- Kingpost, 14th
- No. 5 --- Patti Johnson ----- 1985 ----- Fast Account, 4th
- No. 6 --- Shelly Riley ----- 1992 ----- Casual Lies, 2nd
- No. 7 --- Cynthia Reese ----- 1996 ----- In Contention, 15th
- No. 8 --- Kathy Walsh ----- 1998 ----- Hanuman Highway, 7th
- No. 9 --- Akiko Gothard ----- 1999 ----- K One King, 8th
- No.10 --- Jenine Sahadi ----- 2000 ----- The Deputy (IRE), 14th
- No.11 --- Jennifer Pederson ----- 2004 ----- Song of the Sword, 11th
- No.12 --- Kristin Mulhall ----- 2002 ----- Imperialism, 3rd
Trainers of Most Kentucky Derby Starters
D. Wayne Lukas has started 42 horses in the Run for the Roses, perhaps most notably the filly Winning Colors, who won in 1988. Winning Colors is one of just three fillies who have won the celebrated Kentucky Derby.
Although Lukas hasn't won a Triple Crown championship, he has trained winners of thirteen Triple Crown races (which include the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes). In one year, 1995, he won all three races, but two different horses gave him the honors, Thunder Gulch (Kentucky Derby and Belmont Stakes) and Timber Country (Preakness Stakes).
Ben A. Jones, who passed his Thoroughbred training skills to his sons, entered eleven starters in the Derby and came away the winner with six of those horses. He handled two Triple Crown winners of the 1940s, the incomparable Citation (1948) and the erratic but speedy Whirlaway (1941).
Starters by Trainers in Kentucky Derby:
- D. Wayne Lukas --- 42 starters --- 4 wins --- 1 second --- 5 thirds --- 32 unplaced
- H.J. Thompson --- 24 --- 4 --- 2 --- 1 --- 17
- James Rowe Sr. --- 18 --- 2 --- 1 --- 1 --- 14
- Max Hirsch --- 14 --- 3 --- 0 --- 2 --- 9
- W.C. "Woody" Stephens --- 14 --- 2 --- 3 --- 3 --- 6
- Nicholas P. Zito --- 19 --- 2 --- 0 --- 0 --- 17
- LeRoy Jolley --- 13 --- 2 --- 2 --- 1 --- 8
- Bob Baffert --- 14 --- 3 --- 1 --- 2 --- 8
- Todd Pletcher --- 12 --- 0 --- 1 --- 1 --- 10
- James Fitzsimmons 11 --- 3 --- 1 --- 0 --- 7
- Ben A. Jones --- 11 --- 6 --- 2 --- 1 --- 2
Twenty starters will enter the gate on May 2 for the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby.
