Date May 6, 1978 Jockey Steve Cauthen | Winning horse Affirmed Surface Dirt | |
Location Churchill Downs,
Louisville, Kentucky | ||
The 1978 Kentucky Derby was the 104th running of the Kentucky Derby. Affirmed, under jockey Steve Cauthen, won the race by 1 1/2 lengths over Alydar. Believe It finished 3rd, 1 1/4 lengths behind Alydar, and 30-1 longshot Darby Creek Road finished 4th. Affirmed would go on to win the Triple Crown by defeating Alydar by decreasing margins in the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.
Contents
11 horses competed in the race. Alydar went into the race as a 6-5 favorite, despite Affirmed having won 4 of the 6 previous races between the two. Affirmed went off at 9-5. Sensitive Prince and Believe It were the only other horses to go off at less than 30-1, at 9-2 and 7-1 respectively. Sensitive Prince and Affirmed, both frontrunners, were near the lead early in the race behind long shot Raymond Earl. Sensitive Prince took the lead at the first turn, but Affirmed gained the lead at the second turn. After attaining the lead, Affirmed held it for the remained of the race except for a brief moment when Believe It led by a head. Alydar charged from the outside down the stretch, and overtook Believe It, despite the two horses bumping, but Alydar could not overtake Affirmed.
Payout
Results
The results were as follows: