There is one official Kentucky Derby race, but Derby Day at Churchill Downs is a full race card with many races.

Quick Scoop

  • The Kentucky Derby itself is a single race on the card, run once on the first Saturday in May.
  • Derby Day typically features around 14 races in total at Churchill Downs, with the Derby as the headline event.
  • On the surrounding days (including Kentucky Oaks Day on Friday), there are additional graded stakes races , so the whole Derby weekend is a multi‑day racing festival, even though “the Kentucky Derby” refers to just that one main race.

So if you’re asking “how many races at Kentucky Derby,” the short answer is: one famous Derby race, inside a big program of roughly 14 races on Derby Day.

TL;DR: One Kentucky Derby race, but a full day of roughly 14 total races on the Derby Day card, plus more races on the surrounding Derby weekend.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.