Kentucky Derby Contenders: Then and Now

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Contenders in this year’s Kentucky Derby have all amassed impressive résumés leading up to this year’s run for the roses at Churchill Downs; but before they were stars on the racetrack, they were unnamed foals playing in fields.
Thanks to The Jockey Club, the breed registry for American Thoroughbreds that you see running at tracks every day, we’ve tracked down baby pictures of the probable runners in this year’s Kentucky Derby so you can see how far they’ve come. The signs in some of the images indicate the foal's dam (mother) and year of birth for identification, since the foals were unnamed at the time.
All photos of adult horses courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire unless otherwise indicated.
American Pharoah - Then

Now

Photo by Coady Photography
Bold Conquest - Then

Now

Bolo - Then

Now

Photo by Benoit Photo
Carpe Diem - Then

Now

Danzig Moon - Then

Now

Dortmund - Then

Now

El Kabeir - Then

Now

Far Right - Then

Now

Firespike - Then

Now

Photo by Melissa Bauer-Herzog
Firing Line - Then

Now

Photo by Coady Photography
Frammento - Then

Now

Photo by Coady Photography
Frosted - Then

Now

International Star - Then

Now

Itsaknockout - Then

Now

Keen Ice - Then

Now

Materiality - Then

Now

Metaboss - Then

Now

Photo by Vassar Photography
Mr. Z - Then

Now

Mubtahiij - Then

Since Mubtahiij was foaled and registered in Ireland, we were unable to track down a foal photo of him, but we're sure he was cute!
Now

Photo by Penelope P. Miller for America's Best Racing
Ocho Ocho Ocho - Then

Now

Stanford - Then

Now

Tencendur - Then

Now

Upstart - Then

Now

War Story - Then

Now