Although horse racing isn’t the most highly viewed sport in the U.S. throughout the year, the Kentucky Derby—its pinnacle event—annually draws America’s attention to Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., on the first Saturday of May.
With a completely new field each year, the Kentucky Derby winner can quickly become a household name and just as quickly fade from the public eye. Some of the most memorable runs, however, can vault a horse into iconic status for decades.
Legendary horse Secretariat boasts the fastest finish in the history of the Kentucky Derby with a time of 1:57.40. The story behind the horse was adopted into a hit Disney film in 2010.
Trailing behind Secretariat is Monarchos with a time of 1:59.97. Secretariat and Monarchos are the only two horses to record times of under two minutes at the Kentucky Derby. Coming in third with a time just three-hundredths of a second behind Monarchos is Norther Dancer in a time of two minutes flat.
Rounding out the top five are Spend A Buck and Decidedly with times of 2:00.20 and 2:00.40, respectively. Since 2010, only four horses have made their way into the ranks of the top 25 times of the race’s history.
Here is the full list the 25 fastest finishes in Kentucky Derby History. The list was compiled in November 2024 using data from twinspires.
| Rank | Horse | Time | Year |
| 1 | Secretariat | 1:59.40 | 1973 |
| 2 | Monarchos | 1:59.97 | 2001 |
| 3 | Northern Dancer | 2:00.00 | 1964 |
| 4 | Spend A Buck | 2:00.20 | 1985 |
| 5 | Decidedly | 2:00.40 | 1962 |
| 6 | Proud Clarion | 2:00.60 | 1967 |
| 7 | Authentic | 2:00.61 | 2020 |
| T-8 | Fusaichi Pegasus | 2:01.00 | 2000 |
| T-8 | Grindstone | 2:01.00 | 1996 |
| 10 | Mandaloun | 2:01.10 | 2021 |
| 11 | War Emblem | 2:01.13 | 2002 |
| 12 | Funny Cide | 2:01.19 | 2003 |
| T-13 | Thunder Gulch | 2:01.20 | 1995 |
| T-13 | Affirmed | 2:01.20 | 1978 |
| T-13 | Lucky Debonair | 2:01.20 | 1965 |
| 16 | Nyquist | 2:01.31 | 2016 |
| 17 | Barbaro | 2:01.36 | 2006 |
| 18 | Whirlaway | 2:01.40 | 1941 |
| 19 | Mage | 2:01.57 | 2023 |
| T-20 | Bold Forbes | 2:01.60 | 1976 |
| T-20 | Hill Gail | 2:01.60 | 1952 |
| T-20 | Middleground | 2:01.60 | 1950 |
| T-23 | Riva Ridge | 2:01.80 | 1972 |
| T-23 | Majestic Prince | 2:01.80 | 1969 |
| T-23 | Chateaugay | 2:01.80 | 1963 |
| T-23 | Swaps | 2:01.80 | 1955 |
| T-23 | Twenty Grand | 2:01.80 | 1931 |
