The Kentucky Derby
Fri, 05/25/2007 - 04:06
On a May afternoon in 1875, about 10,000 horseracing fans, bookmakers and owners gathered in Louisville, Kentucky, at a former stock farm renamed the New Louisville Jockey Club, to watch 15 thoroughbreds compete in the first ever Kentucky Derby. The winning horse that day was a three-year-old chestnut colt named Aristides, and its owner, H. P. McGrath, made $2,850 for the victory. By all accounts, the day was a great success and plans were quickly made to make the event an annual occurrence. The track soon became known as Churchill Downs, and in 1883 an article in the Louisville Commercial reported on the fervor surrounding the event: “The crowd in the grand stand sent out a volume of voice, and the crowd in the field took it up and carried it from boundary to boundary of Churchill Downs.” Few, however, could have scarcely envisioned the sheer “volume of voice” the next century would bring.
In 2007, the 133rd running of the Kentucky Derby (now held on the first Saturday of each May) was televised throughout all seven continents and staged in front of 156,635 frantic spectators—one of them the Queen of England. The winning horse, Street Sense, earned owner James Tafel a guaranteed $1.24 million share of the $2 million purse, and more than $118 million was officially wagered on the race. The Kentucky Derby is known in America as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports,” and is the first leg of the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing—along with the Preakness and Belmont Stakes. It is widely regarded as the most prestigious horserace in the world, as well as owning the distinction of being the single oldest annually held sporting event in the Southeastern United States. Much like the Super Bowl or World Series, the Kentucky Derby and the series of week-long festivities it culminates (known as Derby Days) have evolved into an indispensable part of American culture.
As engrained as it may be in American culture, the concept of the Kentucky Derby actually owes its roots to Europe. In 1872, Colonel Meriweather Lewis Clark, Jr. made a trip to England, where he attended the Epsom Derby, a race that had been running for over a decade. He then traveled to Paris, where he gained inspiration from the French Jockey Club, a group of racing enthusiasts who had orchestrated several major Parisian races, including the Grand Prix de Paris (which eventually became the famous Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe). Back from Europe, Col. Clark, a native Kentuckian intent on showcasing his state’s horse breeding industry, quickly established the New Louisville Jockey Club on 80 acres of land leased from his uncles, John and Henry Churchill. For the track’s historic inaugural day, May 17, 1875, four Stakes races were held: the Kentucky Oaks, the Falls City Handicap, the Clark Handicap, and, of course, the Kentucky Derby—all inspired by classic races held in Europe. Though the Falls City and Clark handicaps were eventually moved to the fall schedule, The Kentucky Oaks, fashioned after England’s Epsom Oaks and open only to three-year-old fillies, is run each year on the Friday before the Derby and has become nearly as popular with locals and diehards as the Derby itself. Indeed, attendance at the Oaks is usually second only to the Derby, surpassing even the Belmont, Preakness and the Breeders’ Cup. Like the Epsom Derby and the Grand Prix de Paris, the Kentucky Derby was first run at a distance of 1 ½ miles, but in 1896, following complaints by trainers that the distance was too long for three-year-olds so early in the spring, the length was shortened to its current 1¼ miles.
When it was first built, Churchill Downs comprised a cramped grandstand, a modest clubhouse not much bigger than a three-bedroom home, and six accompanying stables. Despite the popularity of the races, the track was often in financial crisis throughout its early years. Running short of funds, Clark sold the track in 1893 to a syndicate led by William Applegate. The new ownership immediately began an unceasing series of renovations and additions beginning in 1894 with a new 285-foot grandstand on the opposite side of the clubhouse. A year later two massive twin spires, which have come to symbolize Churchill Downs, were placed atop the grandstand. In 1902, the track turned its first profit and in 1903 $20,000 worth of renovations began on the clubhouse. From 2001 to 2005, the facility underwent a three-and-a-half year, $121 million renovation. The clubhouse was replaced, 79 luxury suites were added, and the historic twin spires were refurbished. The grounds now comprise 147 acres, feature six and seven-tier grandstands on both sides of the track, a 150,000 square-foot clubhouse containing several restaurants, and a massive museum.
The traditions that accompany the Kentucky Derby are almost as integral to the festivities as the horses themselves. A drink named The Mint Julep, consisting of bourbon, mint and sugar syrup, has become something of a rite of passage for attendees (over 80,000 Juleps are typically served on Derby Day and the Kentucky Oaks). In a 1970 essay for Scanlon’s Monthly about his first trip to the Derby, writer Hunter S. Thompson recounted his barroom exchange with a Derby regular:
I ordered a Margarita with ice, but he wouldn't hear of it: “Naw, naw...what the hell kind of drink is that for Kentucky Derby time? What's wrong with you, boy?” He grinned and winked at the bartender. “Goddam, we gotta educate this boy. Get him some good whiskey..."
Indeed, partying in general is a tradition nearly synonymous with the Derby. The infield, an area inside the track which costs only about $20 to enter, is less known as a spectators area (since it is nearly impossible to the see the races from there) as it is for its raucous behavior. Distinctions in behavior usually run along the lines of economic and political status. Teetotalers are as unwelcome as they are uncommon in the infield, and the resulting drunkenness, combined with the often-torrid temperatures of Kentucky in May, can lead to excessive nudity and sporadic fighting. By contrast, a great number of the spectators in the grandstands, especially those in the expensive box seats known as “Millionaire Row,” are dressed to the nines. It is tradition for women to don elegant dresses and large, elaborate hats—the more lavish and elaborate, the better. It is not a coincidence that the peripheral images of the Derby, those most often televised and clearly shown with the intention of reinforcing the grandeur of the event, are of the grandstands and Millionaire’s Row, not the bawdiness of the infield. Of course, no matter where one is situated—be it the infield, grandstand or outside the stadium—they are never very far from the betting facilities.
The most common nickname for the Kentucky Derby is “The Run for the Roses,” named so after the 554-red rose garland draped over each year’s winning horse. (The term was coined in 1925 by New York sports columnist Bill Corum, who later went on to serve as president of Churchill Downs from 1950-1958, some of the most financially expansive years for the track, which included the first network telecast of the Derby in 1952.) The first newspaper account of any rose ceremony at the Derby was not until 1896, when the winning horse, Ben Brush, was presented a garland of white and pink roses—though the tradition is believed to have originated 13 years earlier at a fashionable post-derby party attended by E. Berry Wall. The story goes that Wall, a wealthy New York socialite, was presenting roses to ladies at the party and his chivalrous gesture so impressed Churchill Downs owner Clark that he resolved to make roses a permanent fixture of the Derby. The red rose became the official flower of the Derby in 1904. Each year, the Governor of Kentucky and several other dignitaries present the garland in a televised ceremony held in the winner’s circle of the Churchill Downs Garden. The winning jockey is presented with 60 long-stem roses wrapped in 10 yards of ribbon.
The Governor also does the honor of awarding the winning owner with the Kentucky Derby gold trophy. The 14-karat gold piece, which stands 22 inches high and weighs 56 ounces, was first officially presented in 1924, and, aside from jeweled embellishments commemorating quarter-century anniversaries, the only change to its original design has involved the signature 18-karat gold horseshoe adorning one side. Since 1924 the horseshoe had always pointed down, but in 1999, for the 125th running, Churchill Downs officials, deferring to racing superstition that says a downward-facing horseshoe will bring a loss of luck, rotated the horseshoe 180 degrees so that its points faced up. All subsequent Derby trophies have featured the upward design. Of all major American sporting events, the Kentucky Derby trophy is the only solid gold trophy awarded the victor.
The theme song of the Kentucky Derby is Stephen Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home.” Before the race, as the horses are paraded before the grandstands—a standard event for most races at most tracks, but one made intentionally longer than normal at the Derby—the University of Louisville marching band plays Foster’s tune, as the tradition-minded crowd stands respectfully and sings along. It is said that even the most thick-skinned of the Derby regulars find it difficult to suppress their tears during its playing.
Between 1875 and 1902, African-American jockeys won 15 of the 28 Kentucky Derby races. Though essentially nonexistent in the Derby for the better part of the 20th Century, African-American jockeys, in their short period of success, still inform the Churchill Downs record book, and even aspects of modern horseracing. Oliver Lewis rode Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby, despite originally being instructed to act as a pace horse for another horse owned by the same man. It is believed that Lewis, who never rode in another Derby again, later worked for a bookmaker to whom he provided detailed information on how horses ran. This method of post-race notes was later developed into charts which served as forerunners to today’s Daily Racing Forms and Equibase systems. Isaac Murphy, nicknamed “Colored Archer” after a prominent English jockey of the time, was the first jockey to win the Derby on three consecutive occasions. Murphy won 44 percent of all the races he rode and is generally considered one of the greatest American race riders ever. Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton and James “Soup” Perkins share the honor of being the youngest jockeys to win the Derby, as they were 15 at the time of their victories. Willie Simms, America’s leading jockey between 1893 and 1894 and a two-time Derby winner, was the first American to win atop an American horse at an English race, and is credited with introducing the short stirrup of riding to England. In 2001, Louisiana-native Marlon St. Julien became the first African-American rider to ride in the Derby in 79 years, placing seventh.