Does the Kentucky Derby still matter? It’s been riddled with turmoil in recent years.

There’s nothing quite like the Kentucky Derby, an event that lasts just two minutes each year but has established itself as one of the most enduring and well-known sporting spectacles in the world.

The unique pomp of Derby Day and the thrilling nature of the race itself combines for a must-see atmosphere on the first Saturday in May, and the most exciting two minutes in sports has created plenty of indelible memories and lasting legends.

More recently, however, the Kentucky Derby has been a lightning rod for controversy. Here’s a look at some of the dubious events in recent Derby history.

2008: Tragedy in Louisville

Thirty years after Affirmed won the Triple Crown, the sport was still looking for a horse that could pull off the rare feat. Big Brown, who had won the Florida Derby in just his third career start, looked like he might fit the bill. The powerful colt was a monster on Derby Day, winning from post 20 in a star-making performance. Tragically, the runner-up that day, the star filly Eight Belles, broke down immediately after the finish line and had to be euthanized on the track, one of the saddest, most shocking moments in Derby history. Big Brown dominated the Preakness, but his Triple Crown quest fell apart three weeks later. The emerging superstar went off as the 3-10 favorite and never finished the race, pulled up in the stretch by jockey Kent Desormeaux once it was clear he wouldn’t be a factor. Theories abound about what exactly happened to Big Brown that day, and his performance remains a mystery. He ultimately won every other race he ever ran. His trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr., was later suspended from racing for 10 years, with New York authorities citing a history of drug violations. It was one final, negative chapter in the sad story of the 2008 Kentucky Derby.

2018: Greatness and controversy

Three years after Bob Baffert won the Triple Crown with American Pharoah, he did it again with Justify, a lightly raced colt who won the Kentucky Derby in just his fourth career start. Amid a downpour on Derby Day, the muscular Justify looked like a different breed altogether in the winning photos, triumphant in the slop with the Twin Spires in the background. More than a year after the race, the New York Times reported that Justify had failed a drug test before his Santa Anita Derby victory a few weeks before the Kentucky Derby. While the eventual champion passed drug tests after each Triple Crown win, it was yet another negative headline for horse racing. As more details came out, it was clear that racing officials’ actions behind the scenes — seemingly showing more interest in scuttling the issue than actually investigating it — were even worse than the alleged drug infraction, which remained in dispute. While the records show Justify ran a clean Derby, his legend is nowhere near as large as other Triple Crown winners, and his rise coincided with the beginning of Baffert’s fall.

2019: Confusion on the track

For 22 minutes, no one knew what was going on. Maximum Security had crossed the finish line first in the Kentucky Derby, but he had also darted wide while leading the field around the final turn. As stewards watched the tape, everyone stood on the muddy Churchill Downs track and waited. And waited. And waited some more. Finally, the result came down: a disqualification for Maximum Security, and a Derby win for 65-1 shot Country House. The DQ decision itself — the first in Derby history for an on-track incident — was hotly debated at the time, setting off lawsuits, appeals and doing nothing to restore bettors’ confidence in a sport rocked by scandal. Ten months later, Maximum Security trainer Jason Servis was among those charged with federal crimes related to drugging horses, including the would-be Derby champion.

2020: Turmoil off the track

The 2020 Derby was delayed until September and run inside of an almost entirely empty Churchill Downs due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Outside the eerily quiet racetrack, protesters marched for racial justice, and the history of racism related to the Kentucky Derby was put under a microscope in the days before the event, leading to an acknowledgment by Churchill Downs that, “We are not doing enough, quickly enough.” There were also incidents before and after the race, with Thousand Words flipping in the paddock and Derby winner Authentic getting loose during the celebration. Both horses ended up OK, and both horses were trained by Bob Baffert, who was knocked over by his Derby winner during the post-race confusion.

2021: A black eye for racing

The most recent Kentucky Derby supplied one of the biggest black eyes in the long, often strange history of the event. Medina Spirit, yet another Bob Baffert trainee, won the race, but he failed a drug test afterward and was ultimately disqualified. Mandaloun, trained by Louisville native Brad Cox, was named the 2021 Derby winner. It was just the third DQ in 147 runnings of the race, but the second in the past three years. Baffert, a Derby legend, landed a two-year ban from the event and was later hit with an additional suspension from Kentucky officials. The appeals process continues, but this has been yet another stain on the sport. Medina Spirit died in December after a workout at Santa Anita Park.

This story was originally published April 28, 2022 at 10:20 AM.

Ben Roberts

Lexington Herald-Leader

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Ben Roberts is the University of Kentucky men’s basketball beat writer for the Lexington Herald-Leader. He has previously specialized in UK basketball recruiting coverage and created and maintained the Next Cats blog. He is a Franklin County native and first joined the Herald-Leader in 2006. Support my work with a digital subscription