2015 Kentucky Derby the lead in the homestretch. The race marked the fourth Kentucky Derby win for horse trainer Bob Baffert and the third win for Espinoza. The Kentucky Derby is a race for 3-year-old Thoroughbred horses. The 2015 field was determined by a points system that was introduced in 2013. The post position draw of the entries for the Kentucky Derby was held on Wednesday, April 29, 2015, at the Churchill Downs Racetrack clubhouse. American Pharoah was installed as the 5-2 morning line favorite. The day after the draw, Todd Pletcher scratched Stanford, stating that the horse was "fine" but they were
Churchill Downs in 1875. His father-in-law, Richard Ten Broeck, was an accomplished horse breeder and trainer, and introduced Clark to horse racing, attending the English Derby at Epsom Downs outside London. Churchill Downs filled a void in Louisville left by the closing of Oakland and Woodlawn, two earlier race courses. The then-rural location was along Louisville and Nashville Railroad tracks, allowing for easy transport of horses. Clark, who preferred longer races to the relatively short ones that had become popular by the 1890s, was running short of funds, and in 1894 sold the track to a syndicate led by William E. Applegate.