1945 Kentucky Derby

{{short description|71st running of the Kentucky Derby}}

{{Infobox horse race

| name = 71st Kentucky Derby

| class = Grade I stakes race

| horse race = Kentucky Derby

| image =

| caption =

| location = Churchill Downs

| date = June 9, 1945

| distance =

| winning horse = Hoop Jr.

| winning time =

| final odds =

| winning jockey = Eddie Arcaro

| winning trainer = Ivan H. Parke

| winning owner = Fred W. Hooper

| conditions =

| surface = Dirt

| attendance =

| previous = 1944

| next = 1946

}}

The 1945 Kentucky Derby was the 71st running of the Kentucky Derby, held on June 9, 1945.{{cite web|url=http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/horses/triple/derby/2015/04/24/countdown-kentucky-derby-hoop-jr/26310313/ |title=Countdown to Kentucky Derby 2015 | Hoop Jr., 1945 |publisher=Courier-journal.com |date=2015-04-24 |access-date=2016-06-25}} It was won by Hoop Jr., ridden by jockey Eddie Arcaro.{{cite web|url=https://www.kentuckyderby.com/history/year/1945 |title=1945 |publisher=Kentuckyderby.com |access-date=2016-06-25}}

Regularly held on the first Saturday of May, the 1945 edition of the Kentucky Derby was initially scheduled for May 5. However, in December 1944, the director of the Office of War Mobilization, James F. Byrnes, requested that all horse racing tracks suspend racing starting in January 1945, "and to refrain from resuming racing at all tracks until war conditions permit."{{cite web |url=https://www.twinspires.com/blog/2020/03/19/1945-when-the-kentucky-derby-moved-from-may-to-june-by-vance-hanson |title=1945 – When the Kentucky Derby moved from May to June |first=Vance |last=Hanson |website=twinspires.com |date=March 19, 2020 |access-date=June 20, 2020}} Days after V-E Day, Byrne's successor at the Office of War Mobilization, Fred M. Vinson, lifted the suspension on horse racing in an announcement on May 10. The Kentucky Derby was subsequently scheduled for June 9, with the Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes to follow on June 16 and June 23, respectively.