Kentucky Derby

Horseraces infobox
class = Grade 1
horse race = Kentucky Derby


caption = "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports"
location = Churchill Downs
Louisville, Kentucky, USA
inaugurated = 1875
race type = Thoroughbred
website = [http://www.kentuckyderby.com/2008/ 2008 Kentucky Derby]
distance = 1¼ miles (10 furlongs)
track = Dirt, Left-handed
qualification = 3-year-old
weight = Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg)
Filly: 121 lbs. (54.9 kg)
purse = US$2 million
bonuses = US$ 200The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for three year-old thoroughbred horses, held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. The race is one and a quarter miles (2 km) at Churchill Downs. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57.2 kg) and fillies 121 pounds (54.9 kg). [ [http://www.drf.com/sample/pdf/sample_chart.pdf "Tenth Race Churchill May 1, 2004"] . May 1, 2004. Daily Racing Forum. Accessed on May 9, 2006.] The race is known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" for its approximate duration, and is also called "The Run for the Roses" for the blanket of roses draped over the winner. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing in the US and typically draws around 155,000 fans.

History

Kentucky has been a major center of horse breeding and racing since the late 18th century. From the time the region was settled, the fields of the Bluegrass region were noted for producing superior race horses. In 1872, Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, traveled to England, visiting the Epsom Derby, a famous race that had been running annually since 1780. From there, Clark went on to Paris, France, where in 1863, a group of racing enthusiasts had formed the French Jockey Club and had organized the Grand Prix de Paris, which at the time was the greatest race in France.

Returning home to Kentucky, Clark organized the Louisville Jockey Club for the purpose of raising money to build quality racing facilities just outside of the city. The track would soon become known as Churchill Downs, named for Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.'s relatives, John and Henry Churchill, who had provided the land for the racetrack. Officially, the racetrack was incorporated as Churchill Downs in 1937.

The Kentucky Derby was first run at 1.5 miles (2.4 km), the same distance as the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris. In 1896, the distance was changed to its current 1.25 miles (2 km). On May 17, 1875, in front of an estimated crowd of 10,000 people, a field of 15 three-year-old horses contested the first Derby. Under jockey Oliver Lewis, a colt named Aristides, who was trained by future Hall of Famer, Ansel Williamson, won the inaugural Derby. Later that year, Lewis rode Aristides to a second-place finish in the Belmont Stakes.

Although the first race meet proved a success, the track ran into financial difficulties and in 1894 the New Louisville Jockey Club was incorporated with new capitalization and improved facilities. Despite this, the business floundered until 1902 when Col. Matt Winn of Louisville put together a syndicate of businessmen to acquire the facility. Under Winn, Churchill Downs prospered and the Kentucky Derby became the preeminent thoroughbred horse race in America.

Between 1875 and 1902, African-American jockeys won 15 of the 28 runnings of the Kentucky Derby. On May 11, 1892, African-American jockey Alonzo "Lonnie" Clayton, age 15, became the youngest rider to win the Derby. The 1904 race was won by Elwood, the first Derby starter and winner owned by a woman, Laska Durnell. In 1915, Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby (of only three in the history of the race), and in 1917, the English bred colt "Omar Khayyam" became the first foreign-bred horse to win the race.

Derby participants are limited to three-year-old horses. No horse since Apollo in 1882 has won the Derby without racing at age two.

Evolution of the Triple Crown series

Thoroughbred owners began sending their successful Derby horses to compete a few weeks later in the Preakness Stakes at the Pimlico Race Course, in Baltimore, Maryland, followed by the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, New York. The three races offered the largest purse and in 1919 Sir Barton became the first horse to win all three races. However, the term Triple Crown didn't come into use for another eleven years. In 1930, when Gallant Fox became the second horse to win all three races, sportswriter Charles Hatton brought the phrase into American usage. Fueled by the media, public interest in the possibility of a "superhorse" that could win the Triple Crown began in the weeks leading up to the Derby. Two years after the term was coined, the race, which had been run in mid-May since inception, was changed to the first Saturday in May to allow for a specific schedule for the Triple Crown races. Since 1931, the order of Triple Crown races has been the Kentucky Derby first, followed by the Preakness Stakes and then the Belmont Stakes. Prior to 1931, eleven times the Preakness was run before the Derby. On May 12, 1917 and again on May 13, 1922, the Preakness and the Derby were run on the same day. On eleven occasions the Belmont Stakes was run before the Preakness Stakes. [http://www.turfnsport.com/triplecrown/preakness-stakes.php]

On May 3, 1952, the first national television coverage of the Kentucky Derby took place. In 1954, the purse exceeded $100,000 for the first time. In 1968 Dancer's Image became the first (and to this day the only) horse to win the race and then be disqualified after traces of phenylbutazone, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, were found in the horse's urinalysis; unexpectedly, the regulations at Kentucky thoroughbred race tracks were changed some years later, allowing horses to run on phenylbutazone.

The fastest time ever run in the Derby (at its present distance) was set in 1973 at 1 minute 59 2/5 seconds when Secretariat broke the record set by Northern Dancer in 1964. Not only has Secretariat's record time stood for 35 years and counting, but in the race itself, he did something unique in Triple Crown races: each successive quarter, his times were faster. The second sub-two minute time was recorded by Sham, two-fifths of a second behind Secretariat in the same race. Another sub-two minute finish, only the third, was set by in 2001 by Monarchos at 1:59.97.

The 2004 Derby marked the first time that jockeys, as a result of a court order, were allowed to wear corporate advertising logos on their clothing.

In 2005, the purse distribution for the Derby was changed, so that horses finishing fifth would henceforth receive a share of the purse; previously only the first four finishers did so.

Norman Adams has been the designer of the Kentucky Derby Logo since 2002. On February 1, 2006, the Louisville-based fast-food company Yum! Brands, Inc. announced a corporate sponsorship deal to call the race "The Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands." [ [http://web.archive.org/web/20060517235236/http://money.cnn.com/2006/05/05/news/companies/yum_derby/index.htm Kentucky Derby including Yum Brands in its name - May. 5, 2006 ] ]

Traditions

In addition to the race itself, a number of traditions play a large role in the Derby atmosphere. The Mint Julep, an iced drink consisting of bourbon, mint and a sugar syrup is the traditional beverage of the race. The historic drink can be served in an ice-frosted silver julep cup but most Churchill Downs patrons sip theirs from a souvenir glass printed with all previous Derby winners. Also, burgoo, a thick stew of beef, chicken, pork and vegetables, is a popular Kentucky dish served at the Derby.

The infield, a spectator area inside the track, offers general admission prices but little chance of seeing much of the race. Instead, revelers show up in the infield to party with abandon. By contrast, "Millionaire's Row" refers to the expensive box seats that attract the rich, the famous and the well-connected. Women appear in fine outfits lavishly accessorized with large, elaborate hats. As the horses are paraded before the grandstands, the University of Louisville marching band plays Stephen Foster's "My Old Kentucky Home."

The Derby is frequently referred to as "The Run for the Roses"," because a lush blanket of 554 red roses is awarded to the Kentucky Derby winner each year. The tradition is as a result of New York socialite E. Berry Wall presenting roses to ladies at a post-Derby party in 1883 that was attended by Churchill Downs founder and president, Col. M. Lewis Clark. This gesture is believed to have eventually led Clark to the idea of making the rose the race's official flower. However, it was not until 1896 that any recorded account referred to roses being draped on the Derby winner. The Governor of Kentucky awards the garland and the trophy. Pop vocalist Dan Fogelberg composed a song by that title for the 1980 running of the race.

Winners of the Kentucky Derby

A † designates a Triple Crown Winner.
A ‡ designates a filly.

^*In 1968, Dancer's Image, ridden by Bobby Ussery, trained by Lou Cavalaris, Jr., and owned by Peter Fuller, finished first, but was disqualified after a post-race urine sample revealed traces of a banned drug in the horse. The drug in question - phenylbutazone - is now legal for use on racehorses in many states, including Kentucky.

Notes

*D. Wayne Lukas swept the 1995 Triple Crown with two different horses.
*The 2008 second place winner, Eight Belles, marks the first time that any horse has died in the Kentucky Derby. The filly came in second place before breaking both front ankles on the cool-down. She was immediately euthanized. Churchill Downs has since announced that a magnolia tree will be planted in the garden of the Kentucky Derby Museum for Eight Belles and that her remains will be interred at its base. Churchill Downs has also announced that it will rename the La Troienne Stakes (Gr. III) in honor of Eight Belles. There are also plans for a ceremony on Derby Day 2009 in her memory.

ee also

*2008 Kentucky Derby
*Derby pie
*Kentucky Derby Festival
*Kentucky Derby top three finishers
*Kentucky Oaks (sister race)
*List of attractions and events in Louisville, Kentucky
*List of graded stakes at Churchill Downs
*"The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved", a journalism piece by Hunter S. Thompson.
*Preakness Stakes
*Belmont Stakes

References

External links

* [http://www.kentuckyderby.com/ Kentucky Derby (official site)]
* [http://www.kentuckyderby.info Kentucky Derby]
* [http://www.derbymuseum.org/ Kentucky Derby Museum]
* [http://www.courier-journal.com/derby The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Ky.]
* [http://www.kdf.org/ Kentucky Derby Festival]
* [http://www.firstsaturdayinmay.com/ Kentucky Derby Site]
* [http://www.metromapper.org/index-derby.php Map of All Derby Events]
* [http://sports.espn.go.com/travel/news/story?id=2420332 ESPN.COM Attending the Kentucky Derby (includes future dates)]