“The most exciting two minutes in sports”
The 143rd running of the G1 Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands is nearly upon us. It combines pageantry and passion with America’s premier 3yo racing talent. To help you navigate your way around one of the USA’s preeminent racing weekends, we have put together a little cheat sheet.
Churchill Downs
Churchill Downs
The first race course in Kentucky was laid out in Lexington as far back as 1789. The seeds for Churchill Downs were planted in 1872, when a Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark travelled to Europe and attended England’s Epsom Derby. The experience sparked his ambition to create a spectacle horse racing event in America to showcase the Kentucky breeding industry and when he returned, Clark began the development of the racetrack that eventually became known as “Churchill Downs.”
The track was constructed on eighty acres of land situated approximately three miles south of downtown Louisville that Clark leased from his uncles, John and Henry Churchill. Clark funded the initial construction by selling membership subscriptions to the track, selling 320 memberships at $100 each and raising a total of $32,000. The funds were used to construct a clubhouse, grandstand, Porter’s Lodge and six stables and the track officially opened its doors on 17 May 1875.
For the opening meet, Clark created three major stakes races- the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Clark Handicap, modelled after three premier races in England – the Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks and St. Leger Stakes. A three-year-old chestnut colt, Aristides beat home a 15 horse field to win the first running of the Kentucky Derby. Owned by H.P. McGrath, Aristides was trained by and ridden by two African-Americans, Ansel Williamson and Oliver Lewis and cheered to victory by a crowd of 10,000 spectators.
The Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks have been held annually ever since and Churchill Downs currently holds the record for the longest-running, continuous sporting event in the United States.
The Name
An important distinction should be noted as to the pronunciation of the name. Because it is run in the United States, it is pronounced DUR-bee, not DAR-bee.
The Twin Spires
The famous Twin Spires
While Clark’s initial structures still exist, the racetrack has continued to grow and modernize. Today, Churchill Downs spans 147 acres with its most significant structure being the Twin Spires, an architectural feature which sits atop the grandstand and has become the universally recognized symbol for Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby. However, the Louisville track did not have its trademark twin spires when the Kentucky Derby was first run and these did not appear until a new grandstand was commissioned in 1895. The work was undertaken by a local firm, D.X. Murphy & Brother Inc., a Louisville firm known today as Luckett & Farley, and lead architect Joseph Baldez added the twin spires as an architectural flourish. Churchill Downs was designated National Historic Landmark in 1986.
Race Day
The Kentucky Derby is traditionally run on the first Saturday in May and caps the Kentucky Derby Festival. Derby day comprises a full card of 14 races, with an undercard of 6 graded races featuring the G1 Woodford Reserve Turf Classic, G2 Churchill Distaff Turf Mile, G2 American Turf, G2 Churchill Downs, G1 Humana Distaff, and Gr3 Pat Day Mile.
The Derby is a 1 1/4 mile (10 furlong) dirt race open to 3 year olds. Colts and geldings in the race carry 126 pounds (57 kg), and fillies in the race carry 121 pounds (55 kg). Derby hopefuls need to travel the ‘Road To the Kentucky Derby‘, a series of 35 races in which runners need to earn points to qualify for the Derby. Points are earned by the top 4 finishers in each of those races and the 20 horses with the highest scores earn a starting berth.
The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the US Triple Crown and to date, 12 horses have gone on to Triple Crown glory – Sir Barton, Gallant Fox, Omaha, War Admiral, Whirlaway, Count Fleet, Assault, Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed and American Pharoah.
Trophy trivia
Kentucky Derby trophy
The winning connections are presented with an 14 karat gold trophy, which is topped by an 18-karat gold horse and rider. The trophy is 22 inches tall and weighs 65 ounces, excluding its jade base. The trophy has had the same design since 1924 and remained largely unchanged until 1999 when the decorative horseshoe, fashioned from 18-karat gold, was turned 180 degrees so that its ends pointed up, in keeping with racing superstition. Since 1975, the trophy has been created by New England Sterling in North Attleboro, MA. The entire trophy is handcrafted, apart from the horse and rider which are cast from a mould. For 2017, the purse stands at $2 million.
Run For The Roses
The Derby is also referred to as the ‘Run For The Roses’, a term coined by New York sports columnist Bill Corum in 1925. The tradition of a rose garland started in 1896, when the winner, Ben Brush, received a floral arrangement of pink and white roses. The red rose became the official flower of the Kentucky Derby in 1904 and for a period, the roses were fashioned into a horseshoe and presented to the winner. The floral garland as we know it today was first introduced in 1932 by Louisville florist Grace Walker, the year the race was won by Burgoo King.
A Rose By Any Other Name
Kentucky Derby roses
Today’s garland is made up of red roses sewn into a green satin backing with the seal of the Commonwealth on one end and the Twin Spires and number of the race’s current renewal on the other. The floral sash is 122 inches long, 22 inches wide and weighs approx 40 lbs. Since 1987, the garland has been produced by The Kroger Company, who stage the 10-12 hour process as a public event for all to see and appreciate.
Each garland is made up of around 400 red ‘Freedom Roses’, so named after 9-11 atrocities and in tribute to the victims, their families and the men and women in the armed forces. To complete the design, custom ribbons are tied to the fronds at each end. The centre features a crown of roses, greenery and ribbons with a rose to represent each runner in that year’s Derby. There is an additional single rose placed pointing upwards in the centre, symbolizing the struggle and heart necessary to reach the winner’s circle.
Mint Julep
Traditional Mint Juleps
The Mint Julep is a refreshing Bourbon-based cocktail which debuted at the Derby in the 1930s and is now its official drink. It is a Southern cocktail that reportedly originally denoted the provider as a person of means. This is mainly because the drink is made with ice, which was hard to come by and Juleps were traditionally served in a silver cup.
Today the Juleps are made with Old Forester bourbon. Around 120,000 Mint Juleps are served over the Kentucky Derby and Oaks weekend at Churchill Downs, a feat that requires more than 10,000 bottles of Old Forester Mint Julep Ready-to-Serve Cocktail, 60,000 pounds of crushed ice, and nearly 4,000 pounds of freshly harvested mint, which has been sourced locally from Dohn and Dohn Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky for more than 30 years.
However, you don’t have to travel all the way to Churchill Downs to get one and it’s a pretty easy cocktail to make at home. All you need is bourbon, sugar, ice and a few sprigs of fresh mint. And if you really want to do it right, a frosty pewter cup.
To make your own, you will need the following:-
• Fresh mint
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 3 oz. whiskey—bourbon
• old-fashioned glass or pewter cup
1. Place 5 or 6 leaves of mint in the bottom of a pre-chilled, dry 12-ounce glass or silver beaker.
2. Add sugar and crush slightly with a muddler.
3. Pack glass with finely cracked ice.
4. Pour a generous 3 ounces of Kentucky bourbon over the ice.
5. Stir briskly until the glass frosts.
6. Add more ice and stir again before serving.
7. Stick a few sprigs of mint into the ice so that the partaker will get the aroma.
For a truly great Julep:-
• Use a pre-chilled, dry 12- or 14-ounce glass, tall and slim (better yet, the traditional silver beaker).
• Crack the ice, making sure to drain off any excess water before putting it in the glass.
• Don’t handle the glass with bare hands, as the touch of a hand kills the frost. Likewise, each julep should be served with a napkin or small linen doily.
• The glass will not frost if in the wind, if wet, with un-dried ice or if excessively handled. You can sometimes speed the frost by twirling the glass or by placing in coldest part of refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
• Use only the freshest mint and, of that, the smallest, most tender leaves.
• If you use a straw, keep it short so you can get your nose in among the mint.
The anthem
Kentucky Derby field parades to the post
We have compiled a pen pic of this year’s runners (click here). Post time is 6:34pm E.T. After choosing your favourite, all that’s left is to join the crowds in singing ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ as the runners step onto the track for the Kentucky Derby post parade.
Since 1936, with only a few exceptions, the song has been performed by the University of Louisville Marching Band as the horses make their way to the starting gate and 160,000+ people sing along.
“My Old Kentucky Home, Good-Night!” is an anti-slavery ballad originally written by Stephen Foster and thought to have been composed in 1852. The story goes that Foster likely composed the song after having been inspired by the narrative of popular anti-slavery novelist Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, while likely referencing imagery witnessed on his visits to the Bardstown, Kentucky farm called Federal Hill.
The words have been amended slightly over the years, but the version most commonly used is below:-
The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home.
‘Tis summer, the people are gay,
The corn top’s ripe and the meadow’s in the bloom
While the birds make music all the day.
The young folks roll on the little cabin floor,
All merry, all happy, and bright.
By ‘n by hard times comes a-knocking at the door,
Then my old Kentucky home, good night.
Weep no more my lady,
oh! weep no more today!
We will sing one song for my old Kentucky home,
For the old Kentucky home far away.
