Break out your seersucker suits and your biggest brimmed hats and get ready for the 131st Running for the Roses, coming up tomorrow at Churchill Downs - it's Kentucky Derby time, so get ready for DERBY DAZE! Here’s a snapshot of what spectators will indulge in to celebrate the "most exciting two minutes in sports:"
- 120,000 Mint Juleps
- 7,000 lbs of Kentucky premium beef - NY Strips and Ribeyes
- 3,000 lbs of Kenny’s Country Cheese
- 63,000 jumbo shrimp
- 25,000 Derby Pies
The Kentucky Derby
Churchill Downs
America's longest-running
continually held sporting event.
On May 17, 1875, the horse, Aristides, and his rider, Oliver Lewis, crossed the finish line ahead of the rest of the field at the first ever Kentucky Derby. The horse's owner, H.P. McGrath, and an esimated crowd of 10,000 in the stands looked on. Aristides, a Thoroughbred named after an ancient Greek general, earned extra alfalfa that day in Louisville. What would you have seen in Louisville that first race day?
You might have seen well-groomed Thoroughbreds--a cross between Arabian stallions and European mares--along with 15 fine jockeys, 14 of whom, including Oliver Lewis, were African American. You also would have seen cheering crowds sitting anxiously in the bleachers around the track built in 1874 by Meriweather Lewis Clark.
The name "Churchill Downs" was first used in 1883 in a report on the 9th Derby by the Louisville Commerical newspaper.
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May 5, 1973, Secretariat - winning by 2½ lengths - set a record time of 1:59.4, the first horse to run the derby under 2 minutes. His record still stands.
In 2001, Monarchos, came close at 1:59.97. For a complete list of winners from the beginning, go HERE.
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Did You Know?
A racehorse loses an average of between 15 and 25 pounds during a race.
The fastest Derby was in 1973, by Secretariat. His record of 1:59.4 still hasn't been beat.
Roses became part of the Derby in 1904 when they were presented to ladies attending a fashionable Louiseville Derby party. They were such a hit that the president of Churchill Downs adopted the rose as the race's official flower.
The distance of the Kentucky Derby was 1 1/2 miles from 1875-1895. Ever since it has been 1 1/4 miles.
In order to fit on racing sheets, no racehorse's name may contain more than 18 letters, according to horse-racing regulations.
These are the names of some of this year's contenders (you pick 'em by their names, by their odds, or by their 'looks'?):
Pyro, Big Brown, Colonel John, Gayego,Court Vision, Monba, Eight Belles,Tale Of Ekati, Z Fortune, Adriano, Cool Coal Man, Visionaire, Denis of Cork, Smooth Air, Recapturetheglory.
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Now the true Southern Belle knows that Derby Hats are very important, and the bigger, the better. One simply must not attend the Kentucky Derby in a Jackie O pillbox, and Heaven forbid if one should go bare-headed.....GASP!
I was so afraid all the good hats would already be gone since I didn't begin my search until day before yesterday. However, as luck would have it, I found *it*! I found the one. The winner - this will stand out for sure - I found *my* hat.
Now about those mint juleps.......
Links for the information and excerpts used in today's post:
~ www.americaslibrary.gov ~
~ http://www.derbypost.com ~
~ http://www.levyrestaurants.com ~
~ http://www.kentuckyderby.com ~
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