Santa Anita Derby
- Location: Santa Anita Park, California
- Inaugural Race: 1935
- Current Distance: 1 1/8 miles (9 furlongs)
- Track Type: Left-Handed Dirt
- Age Qualifications: Three-year-olds
- Status: Grade 1
- 2021 Purse: $400,000
- 2021 Race Date: Thursday, April 1st

2020 Santa Anita Derby Entries and Results
POST | HORSE | JOCKEY | TRAINER | WIN | PLACE | SHOW |
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6 | Honor A. P. | Mike E. Smith | John Shirreffs | $6.40 | $2.60 | $2.20 |
7 | Authentic | Drayden Van Dyke | Bob Baffert | $2.20 | $2.10 | |
2 | Rushie | Flavien Prat | Michael McCarthy | $3.40 | ||
4 | Anneau d'Or | Victor Espinoza | Blaine Wright | |||
3 | Shooters Shoot | Abel Cedillo | Peter Eurton | |||
1 | Friar's Road | Geovanni Franco | Michael McCarthy | |||
5 | Azul Coast | Umberto Rispoli | Bob Baffert |
Exotic Payouts (based on $2 wagers)
- Exacta (6-7 Paid: $10.00)
- Trifecta (6-7-2) Paid: $40.80
- Superfecta (6-7-2-4) Paid: $137.00
Watch the 2020 Santa Anita Derby
Santa Anita Derby History
The Santa Anita Derby is the most important prize among the California early 3-year-old races. With a purse as high as $1 million some years, it carries group status and it confers great value to the winner.
It’s also one of the most significant races in the Road to the Kentucky Derby series. It’s one of three major races held four weeks prior to the Derby – the others are the Blue Grass Stakes and the Wood Memorial – and the first four finishers get points in the series on a 100-40-20-10 basis. It means the winner will definitely get a place in the Kentucky Derby field, and most likely the runner-up as well.
In its early years the Santa Anita Derby wasn’t a great Kentucky Derby guide – the only contestant in its first 14 renewals to win at Churchill Downs was 36-1 longshot Gallahadion in 1940, and he was a disappointing 13th at Santa Anita.
But since then it’s been an important guide, with a further 16 runners going on to take the Kentucky Derby. Only five races have produced more Kentucky Derby winners: the Hopeful Stakes and Champagne Stakes (both 2-year-old races), the Florida Derby, Blue Grass Stakes, and Wood Memorial.
Kentucky Derby winners to come out of the Santa Anita Derby include outstanding horses such as Swaps, Majestic Prince, Affirmed, and Sunday Silence. In recent years, both I’ll Have Another (2012) and California Chrome (2014) won the Santa Anita Derby prior to winning the Run for the Roses.
Previous Winners of the Santa Anita Derby
Year | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Owner |
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2020 | Honor A.P. | Mike E. Smith | John Shirreffs | C R K Stable LLC |
2019 | Roadster | Mike E. Smith | Bob Baffert | Speedway Stable LLC |
2018 | Justify | Mike E. Smith | Bob Baffert | WinStar Farm, China Horse Club, Head of Plains Partners, et al |
2017 | Gormley | Victor Espinoza | John A. Shirreffs | Moss, Mr. and Mrs. Jerome S. |
2016 | Exaggerator | Kent J. Desormeaux | J. Keith Desormeaux | Big Chief Racing/Rocker O Ranch et al |
2015 | Dortmund | Martin Garcia | Bob Baffert | Kaleem Shah |
2014 | California Chrome | Victor Espinoza | Art Sherman | M. Perry & S. Coburn |
2013 | Goldencents | Kevin Krigger | Doug O'Neill | W. C. Racing, D. Kenney, RAP Racing |
2012 | I'll Have Another | Mario Gutierrez | Doug O'Neill | J. Paul Reddam |
2011 | Midnight Interlude | Victor Espinoza | Bob Baffert | Arnold Zetcher |
Showing 1 to 10 of 83 entries
Road to the Kentucky Derby prep-race list
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