Which Kentucky Derby Silk Color Has Prevailed Most Often?

When you think of the Kentucky Derby, it’s easy to picture the pageantry: the roses, the crowds, the thundering finish. But for hardcore racing fans – and the sharp-eyed bettors – another detail stands out: the colors. Jockey silks aren’t just decorative. They’re steeped in tradition, ownership, and sometimes, surprising patterns of success.

Digging into the history of the Kentucky Derby, certain colors have a habit of showing up in the winner’s circle more often than others. Is it pure coincidence? Maybe. But when you're staring down a packed field at Churchill Downs, every little edge counts – even if it’s hiding in plain sight.

In this breakdown, we’ll take a closer look at which silk colors have been historically linked to Derby victories, how often they hit, and what it could mean for this year’s race. Because when the margin of victory is measured in split seconds, a little color magic might be the difference between heartbreak and a payday.

🏇 Key Analysis

• Blue is the most successful primary silk color, having compiled 17 wins (representing exactly 20 percent of all races) since 1940.
  
  
• Green is next in line with 16 victories, but hasn't prevailed since John Velazquez rode Animal Kingdom to a Derby triumph in 2011. 
  
  
• Six of the previous seven Kentucky Derby winners have sported different primary silks, with black (2020 and 2024) the only repeats in that span.
  
  
• Silver has seen the longest drought since its one and only Derby win, now at 64 years (and counting).

Here's a look at the most successful silk colors over the past 85 years:  

Most Successful Primary Silk Colors

Primary is Elementary

Given the long history and tradition of the Kentucky Derby, it makes sense that your basic primary colors are prominently featured on this list, with blue, red and yellow accounting for 36 of 85 victories since 1940.

Blue is the most prolific Kentucky Derby silk color of them all, narrowly edging out green thanks to Mage's 2023 victory with jockey Javier Castellano at the helm. That said, blue has just two wins in the previous 20 Runs for the Roses, with Victor Espinoza's 2015 win aboard American Pharaoh the only other blue-silk victory in that span.

Green's 16 victories are impressive in their own right, but like blue, this primary silk color has been responsible for just two wins in the previous two decades of Derby competition. Giacomo's 2005 victory aboard Mike Smith and Animal Kingdom's 2011 win with John Velazquez are the only victories for green in the past 20 races.

Red is the third-most-common winning silk color since 1940, producing 12 victories. But disregard Rich Strike's 2022 win in red with Sonny Leon at the helm, and you'd have to go back to the year 2000 to find the last time this color crossed the finish line first (Fusaichi Pegasus/Kent Desormeaux).

Honorable mention goes to white, which is the only other primary silk color to have double-digit wins over the past 85 competitions. It's also the hottest primary silk color over the past two decades of Kentucky Derby races, with a whopping eight wins over that span.

White is King of the Secondary Colors

In most cases, jockeys don a secondary color within their silk – and no complimentary shade has fared better with the top colors than white.

Here's a look at the top secondary colors when the winning primary color is blue:

Here's a breakdown of the top secondary colors when the winning primary color is green:

With 10 combined victories alongside the two most prolific primary silk colors in Kentucky Derby history, white truly does go with everything. Red and yellow, with eight victories apiece in the secondary color role, are the only other complimentary options even close.

Stripes Over Diamonds for Winningest Pattern

Kentucky Derby silks psychology isn't just about what color a jockey wears. The silk pattern matters, too – and some are vastly more popular than others, as you'll see in our next batch of historical Derby results.

We broke down which silk patterns have produced the highest number of Kentucky Derby winners since 1940:

Stripes or diamonds have been the pattern of choice for nearly a quarter of all Kentucky Derby champions over the past 85 years (an even more impressive showing when you consider that not every jockey opts for a patterned layout). The only jockey to wear cross patterns: Edgar Prado, who rode Barbaro to an historic victory in 2006.

No Cap: Blue is the Hat Color of Champions

Accessorizing is critical to looking good at the most renowned event on the North American horse racing calendar. And that means topping everything off with a nice-looking hat (for the jockey, not the horse).

Here's a look at the winningest cap colors over the past 85 Kentucky Derby races:

Here's another example of changing trends in Kentucky Derby color culture. Blue is the runaway leader but has been worn by just two winners since 2008; on the flip side, we've seen six victorious jockeys don white caps over that span, including three in a four-year stretch from 2018-21.

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