Rich Strike, who won by three-quarters of a length and covered the mile and a quarter in 2 minutes 2.61 seconds…
Speed record: Mile and a Quarter:
1:59.4 – Secretariat (1973) Mile and a Half: 2:34.5 – Spokane (1889)
In 1896, bay colt Ben Brush crossed the wire first in a time of 2:07.75 at the 22nd running of the Kentucky Derby, the first to be raced at 1 1/4 miles.
Today, that champion Thoroughbred’s winning time would hardly earn him third place in a typical Kentucky Derby, where victorious horses have run the iconic race in an average of about two minutes and two seconds from 2012 to 2021.
While a number of factors have influenced the uptick in speed of the fastest two minutes in sports over the last century, the Kentucky Derby has actually gotten almost a second slower over the past few decades.
https://edge.twinspires.com/racing/how-has-the-winning-time-of-the-kentucky-derby-changed-over-time/
By no means a fast race