2006 Kentucky Derby

The 2006 Kentucky Derby was the 132nd running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 6, 2006, and was won by Barbaro. There was a crowd of 157,532 in attendance.

Contenders

Viewed as one of the most competitive fields in years, there was no clear cut standout going into the race. Brother Derek, winner of four straight including the Santa Anita Derby, was made the morning line favorite at odds of 3:1 but drifted out to nearly 8:1 by post time. Meanwhile, Sweetnorthernsaint went from 10:1 on the morning line to the post-time favorite at 11:2 off of his win in the Illinois Derby. At 6:1, Barbaro was the second favorite based on his undefeated record including the Florida Derby. He was attempting to become the first horse since Needles in 1950 to win the Derby off of a five-week layoff. Other leading contenders included Lawyer Ron, Showing Up and Sinister Minister.

Results

Keyed Entry went to the early lead challenged by Sinister Minister, and set a fast early pace. Barbaro stumbled at the start and bumped with Bob and John, then was carried three wide into the first turn. Still racing wide, he started to make up ground on the far turn and hit the lead with a quarter of a mile remaining. He continued to open up ground and won by lengths over Bluegrass Cat, with Steppenwolfer closing late for third. Jazil and Brother Derek deadheated for fourth.
It was the first Derby winner for all of Barbaro's connections: trainer Michael Matz, jockey Edgar Prado and owners Roy and Gretchen Jackson of Lael Stable. Barbaro's margin of victory was the longest since Assault in 1946. He became just the sixth horse to win the Derby while still undefeated.

Finish	Post	Horse	Jockey	Trainer	Odds	Margin	Earnings
1	8	Barbaro	Edgar Prado	Michael Matz	6.10		$1,453,200
2	13	Bluegrass Cat	Ramon Domínguez	Todd Pletcher	30.00	lengths	$400,000
3	2	Steppenwolfer	Robby Albarado	Daniel C. Peitz	16.30	lengths	$200,000
4 – dead heat	1	Brother Derek	Alex Solis	Dan Hendricks	7.70	lengths	$80,000
4 – dead heat	18	Jazil	Fernando Jara	Kiaran McLaughlin	24.20	lengths	$80,000
6	6	Showing Up	Cornelio Velásquez	Barclay Tagg	26.20	10 lengths
7	11	Sweetnorthernsaint	Kent Desormeaux	Michael J. Trombetta	5.50	13 lengths
8	14	Deputy Glitters	Jose Lezcano	Thomas Albertrani	60.60	14 lengths
9	5	Point Determined	Rafael Bejarano	Bob Baffert	9.40	lengths
10	15	Seaside Retreat	Patrick Husbands	Mark Casse	52.50	lengths
11	19	Storm Treasure	David Flores	Steve Asmussen	51.90	lengths
12	17	Lawyer Ron	John McKee	Robert Holthus	10.20	lengths
13	16	Cause to Believe	Russell Baze	Jerry Hollendorfer	25.90	lengths
14	20	Flashy Bull	Mike E. Smith	Kiaran McLaughlin	43.00	lengths
15	12	Private Vow	Shaun Bridgmohan	Steve Asmussen	40.50	lengths
16	4	Sinister Minister	Victor Espinoza	Bob Baffert	9.70	30 lengths
17	7	Bob and John	Garrett K. Gomez	Bob Baffert	12.90	lengths
18	10	A.P. Warrior	Corey Nakatani	John Shirreffs	14.10	lengths
19	9	Sharp Humor	Mark Guidry	Dale Romans	30.10	lengths
20	3	Keyed Entry	Patrick Valenzuela	Todd Pletcher	28.80	lengths

Track condition: Fast
Times: mile – 22.63; mile – 46.07; mile – 1:10.88; mile – 1:37.02; final – 2:01.36.
Splits for each quarter-mile:
Source: Equibase Chart

Payout

;The 132nd Kentucky Derby Payout Schedule

Program Number	Horse Name	Win	Place	Show
8	Barbaro	US$14.20	$8.00	$6.00
13	Bluegrass Cat	-	$28.40	$15.40
2	Steppenwolfer	-	-	$7.80

$2 Exacta: Paid $587.00
$2 Trifecta: Paid $11,418.40
$2 Superfecta: Paid $84,860.40
$2 Superfecta: Paid $59,839.00
1 Jazil & 18 Brother Derek was a Dead Heat.

Subsequent racing careers

Barbaro fractured a leg in his next start, the Preakness Stakes, and died after a lengthy battle to save him. His ashes are buried at Churchill Downs below a bronze statue of him winning the Derby.
Several other horses from the field went on to record Grade I wins:

Jazil – Belmont Stakes
Bluegrass Cat – Haskell Invitational
Showing Up – Secretariat Stakes, Hollywood Derby
Lawyer Ron – 2007 Whitney Handicap, Woodward Stakes
Flashy Bull – 2007 Stephen Foster Handicap

None of the participants in the 2006 Derby went on to become major sires. The most consistent was Bluegrass Cat, who ranked 35th on the 2016 general sire listing for example despite not having a Grade I winner. The best sire from the crop of 2003 proved to be Bernardini, who bypassed the Derby.