Kentucky Derby top four finishers Kentucky Derby top four finishers This is a listing of first-place, second-place, third-place and fourth-place finishers, and the number of starters in the Kentucky Derby, a Grade I American Thoroughbred race run at miles on dirt for three-year-olds. It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. A † designates a Triple Crown Winner. Note: D. Wayne Lukas swept the 1995 Triple Crown with two different horses. In 1968, Dancer's Image finished first, but was disqualified after a post-race urine sample revealed traces of a banned drug in the horse. The drug
Fort Larned (horse) Out in third. "I never thought the horse was that good," said Whitham's son Clay, "because he was so slow developing. He was just a plain bay horse and nothing more. He wasn’t flashy at all. He finally grew up at Churchill Downs last November in the slop. When he won the Skip Away at Gulfstream this winter and set a track record, I finally thought, 'Hey, he’s got some talent.' But I sure wasn’t counting on winning this race." Fort Larned was a finalist in the Eclipse Award voting for American Horse of the Year and Champion Older Male