Transpiring every year in Louisville, Kentucky on the 1^st Saturday of May, the Kentucky Derby is a Grade I race that is the culmination of the two-week long Kentucky Derby Festival. Only three-year old thoroughbred horses are eligible in the race that spans two kilometers at Churchill Downs. Fillies have to carry 121 pounds while colts and geldings have to carry 126. The race draws in around 155,000 spectators and is also known by the name “The Run for the Roses,” which is taken after the fact that the victor is draped with a blanket of roses. The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the United States’ Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing and is known in the country as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.”

Since the 18^th century, Kentucky has been a major hub of horse breeding and racing. The region of Bluegrass, from the time the area was settled, had been noted for producing superior horses.

Churchill downs — the racetrack of the event, was made by the Louisville Jockey Club, which was organized by Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr.

Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. was the grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition and had visited the Epsom Derby in England, a popular annual race that traced its beginnings to the year 1780, and Paris, where the Grand Prix de Paris was being held and was at that time, the most popular race in France. When he came back to Kentucky, he organized the Louisville Jockey Club, which built the racing facility that would soon be incorporated as Churchill Downs on the city’s outskirts.

The track was so named as relatives of the Colonel — Henry and John Churchill — had provided the expanse of land necessary for the racetrack.

The Derby was initially 2.4 kilometers long; it had the same length as the Grand Prix de Paris and the Epsom Derby. The first race was held on May 17, 1875, had an audience of approximately 10,000 people, and had fifteen three-year old horses as its contestants. A colt named Aristides, which was ridden African-American jockey Oliver Lewis, won the race.

Although the Kentucky Derby enjoyed tremendous success with its inaugural race, Churchill Downs experienced financial difficulties. The New Louisville Jockey Club had to be incorporated with improved facilities and new capitalization. In spite of all this however, the enterprise still wallowed. It was not until 1902 when Col. Matt Winn, who was a resident of Louisville, formed a conglomerate of businessmen to absorb the facility. Under this new management, the Downs flourished and the Derby became the leading thoroughbred horse race in the United States.

The Kentucky Derby is so famous a race that even political figures and celebrities flock to it like moths to a flame. Some of the celebrities and politicians who have attended the race:

· President George Bush

· Bo Derek

· Jerry O’Connell

· Greg Vaughan

· Kelly Hu

· Alyssa Milano

· Usher

· Tara Reid

· Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner

The Kentucky Derby offers not just the thrills of the race; several factors contribute to why it attracts a massive amount of spectators. The following are facts about the preeminent racing event in the United States:

·
The Derby’s following has, in terms of number, spiked in the last ten years.

· The event is so renowned that the amount of people who attend it surpasses the combined population of Bowling Green, Owensboro, and Covington, the state’s three largest cities.

· The Derby has taken on an aspect somewhat akin to that of Woodstock as the event is replete with college students and alcoholic beverages. This fact attracts even more people to attend the event.

· With horses being registered in the thousands and only one winner, the event is practically suffused with the air of fierce competition.

· Last year, the race’s purse money reached $2 million and the Derby’s champion will get 80% of that amount. Contrast this with daily races where winners can only take about 60% of the purse money.

· With lots of prominent personalities mingling in the event, it creates a snowball effect and attracts other celebrities and political figures. The Derby is often the source of gossip of celebrity shenanigans.

· The amount of wagering in the Derby was estimated to have exceeded $160 million, another benchmark of the race’s popularity.

Read about horse competitions, including information about world-famous people who are also horse lovers: such as former Ambassador Earle I Mack and Senator Jess Jackson, Resort Developer Richard Fields, and heiress and art collector Alice Walton.

View press about Richard Fields as a businessman including Richard Field’s apprenticeship with Trump.

View the profile Florida State Horse Law proponent Earle I Mack’s profile at NTRA or visit Earle I Mack’s website.