It is known as the “Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports”. One and a quarter miles… 10 furlongs on the track. It is the race of races. The dream of every horse owner and jockey who ever lived. The Kentucky Derby is the world’s premier horse racing event.
Way back in 1882, the grandson of William Clark (of the Lewis & Clark Expeditions) named Cornel Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr. was traveling in England and attended a horserace called “the Derby” which had already been running for over 100 years. He also traveled to France where he witnessed the greatest horserace in France known as Longchamps.
When he returned home to Kentucky, Clark helped organized the Louisville Jockey Club. The organization set about raising money to build a quality racing facility just outside of the city. The men who donated the land for the new track were named Henry and John Churchill and so… now we have Churchill Downs although the track did not become incorporated as such until 1937.
The very first Kentucky Derby was run on May 17, 1875 attended by a crowd of 10,000 race fans who watched a field of 15 three-year-olds race around the then one and a half mile long track. The inaugural Derby was won by a colt named Aristides with jockey Oliver Lewis onboard. Future Racing Hall of Fame trainer Ansel Williamson trained Aristides for the race.
The Kentucky Derby is also known as the “Run for the Roses” and is the first leg of American Racings’ famous Triple Crown. The second and third legs of the Triple Crown are the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. A horse must win all three races to receive racings’ most coveted title, the Triple Crown.
For the mile and a quarter race at Churchill Downs, Colts and Geldings will carry 126 pounds and Fillies 121. Jockeys, owners and trainers from all over the country would not be anywhere else on the first Saturday in May when the Kentucky Derby is traditionally run.
The Kentucky Derby annually ranks first in attendance across the nation surpassing even the Preakness, the Belmont and the Breeders cup in crowd size. Celebrities and racing fans from all around the world come to Louisville each May for the fabled event. In 2007 HM Queen Elizabeth II declared that her royal visit to the United States would not be complete without attending the Kentucky Derby.
