On May 17, 1875, 10,000 cheering horse racing fans at Kentucky’s Louisville Jockey Club, now Churchill Downs, marveled as African American jockey Oliver Lewis brought his chestnut colt Aristides neck and neck with Volcano on the homestretch, the pair surging ahead of the field of lightning-fast Thoroughbreds. They thundered in tandem at such breakneck speed, it almost seemed they could take flight like the mythical Pegasus, but in the last few strides, Aristides broke away and bolted to victory in the inaugural Kentucky Derby.
That was the first of many history-making moments that have transpired in the last 150 years at this venerated racetrack that is home to the “most exciting two minutes in sports.” As the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States celebrates its sesquicentennial, there’s no better time to take a deep dive into Derby history and catch a glimpse of how the race is looking to the future.
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David Toczko
The grand spectacle that is the Kentucky Derby is more than the country’s most prestigious horse race. It’s about the pageantry that plays out in the shadow of the track’s regal Twin Spires. The crowd singing “My Old Kentucky Home,” the red-coated bugler playing “Call to the Post,” the blanket of red roses being draped across the winner are all part of the enduring legacy of the Kentucky Derby.
Churchill Downs, a National Historic Landmark, has many longstanding traditions, but it’s not frozen in time. The biggest change in decades will be unveiled at the 150th Run for the Roses on May 4.
A $200 million redesign to the saddling paddock, where the spirited 3-year-olds are held before the race, has been underway for more than a year. This treasured area of the track will more than double in size, expanding from 5,000 to 12,000 square feet. The stalls will be moved beneath the Twin Spires for what will surely become an iconic view.
The expansion creates 3,600 premium seats and adds space for 3,250 standing-room-only ticket holders. New club spaces and high-end dining options promise to enhance the Derby Day festivities.
Retired Thoroughbred racing journalist and historian Edward Bowen, 82, who covered 52 consecutive Kentucky Derbys from 1964-2015, has a special appreciation for how the expansion will enhance the crowd experience.
“Having watched the Derby on black-and-white TV screens since childhood, I had a sense of drama connected to the saddling area of the 1950s,” Bowen, who now lives in Versailles, said. “When I began having the opportunity to see the race in person, I realized how few people at the track had the opportunity actually to see into the saddling enclosure.”
It’s sort of like a locker room for horses, because this is where these equestrian athletes get their game faces on before the biggest race of their careers. Now, it will be one of the first things fans see when they pass through the gate.
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When it’s not packed with horse racing enthusiasts, Churchill Downs is a peaceful place where exercise riders gallop their charges around the track.
Catch these thrilling workouts on a 90-minute Superstars and Spires Tour. Then, go behind the scenes for a peek at Millionaires Row, where celebrity fans in extravagant hats sip mint juleps with an enviable view of the finish line. It’s where Queen Elizabeth II, a lifelong equestrian, viewed the race when she attended the Derby in 2007.
On the second floor of the clubhouse is the eye-catching Peb mural, named for Pierre “Peb” Bellocq, the cartoonist who created it. The 36-foot mural features humorous caricatures of every Derby-winning jockey from 1875-2004, including the late Bill Shoemaker, a 4-foot, 11-inch force of nature who won the Derby four times and is widely heralded as one of the greatest jockeys of the 20th century.
The weight limit for Kentucky Derby jockeys is 126 pounds, and that includes the saddle. Shoemaker weighed in at only 98 pounds.
Jacinto Vasquez is also among the pantheon of successful riders. He holds a special place in Derby history because he made it to the winner’s circle in 1980 riding Genuine Risk, only the second filly (female horse) to win the Derby at the time. The talented Winning Colors became the third and most recent Derby-winning filly in 1988.
Bowen remembers the day Genuine Risk left the boys in the dust.
“Everyone interested in Derby history knew that Regret was the only filly to have won the race [in 1915],” Bowen said. “Then, standing on the roof in 1980 and watching Genuine Risk take charge, I was able to grasp history as it unfolded—‘I’m watching a filly win the Kentucky Derby!’ ”
Bowen was there on May 5, 1973, when the legendary Secretariat became the first to run the 1¼-mile race in under two minutes, the first victory in his Triple Crown sweep. The Triple Crown is a series of horse races that includes the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes, in that order, and it is the ultimate prize in Thoroughbred racing.
“Watching Secretariat win the Derby was very gratifying because it seemed to validate the thoughts he had summoned that he was a very special horse emerging to greatness,” Bowen said. “That impression had taken a jolt in his previous race, when he was upset in the Wood Memorial [in New York].”
To learn more about Secretariat, visit the Kentucky Derby Museum, adjacent to Churchill Downs. Secretariat: America’s Horse is a permanent exhibit that chronicles the racing career of the powerful colt nicknamed “Big Red” because of the color of his coat and traces his rise as a cultural icon.
Each of the three Triple Crown races Secretariat won is shown on a 10-foot screen, allowing fans, many of whom weren’t around during his lifetime, to travel back more than 50 years to cheer on what can be argued as the fastest racehorse in United States history. The races are thrilling to watch, even though viewers know the outcome. At the Belmont Stakes in New York, Secretariat was so far ahead in the homestretch, it was as though the trailing pack was trying to outrun a freight train. As announcer Chic Anderson put it, he moved “like a tremendous machine,” winning by a phenomenal 31 lengths, the highlight of his record-breaking career.
Secretariat’s trailblazing owner, Penny Chenery, also is honored at the Derby Museum. She became known as the “First Lady of Racing” in a male-dominated sport.
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To understand the early years of the Derby, stroll through the Black Heritage in Racing exhibit that chronicles the legacy of Kentucky’s Black equestrians, who dominated the sport in the latter half of the 19th century. They worked as jockeys, breeders, trainers and grooms and were considered some of the best horsemen in the world. Over time, Black jockeys were forced off the track, and, for decades, their contributions to the sport were forgotten.
Artifacts include the purse that held celebrity jockey Isaac Burns Murphy’s 1891 Derby winnings. Born in Clark County, the son of a former slave was the first jockey to win the Derby three times. He rode in 11 Derbys overall.
Having fun on a Derby getaway is a sure bet, but by visiting local equestrian-themed attractions, you’ll leave with a reverence for the Bluegrass State’s Thoroughbred industry and the generations of equestrians who have shaped it.
Literally Out to Pasture
Ever wondered what happens to racehorses when their careers are over? Some of them end up at the TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall, a 25-acre farm, above, that is part of the nonprofit Thoroughbred Retirement Foundation. Located just outside of Louisville, Chestnut Hall offers tours by appointment.
The average age of the 10 horses that reside on the farm is 22. These senior citizens spend their days peacefully grazing in verdant pastures and have a dedicated staff to attend to illnesses or injuries.
TRF Sanctuary Farm at Chestnut Hall
12611 U.S. 42, Prospect
502.509.6775