Race predates the automobile and the airplane, radio and television, Edison’s light bulb and Einstein’s relativity. It’s the anchor of American athletic longevity.
The dominant news story of the day in Kentucky, May 17, 1875, was the death of John C. Breckinridge, a U. S. congressman who became a Confederate general in the Civil War. Breckinridge died at the age of 54 at his home in Lexington, Kentucky. , a divisive ancient figure. His obituary filled several columns in The Courier-Journal the next day.
On page four of the Courier Journal was a modest headline that read, “Derby Day. “The accompanying article chronicled Aristide’s victory in the Kentucky Derby, in what the newspaper called “a brilliant inauguration of the Louisville Jockey Club Association. “The founder of the agreement was Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. , grandson of William Clark, one of the leaders of the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
The initiator of the Derby traces his lineage to the early United States, when President Thomas Jefferson commissioned two explorers in 1804 to traverse the new acquisition of Louisiana. That’s how deeply the Kentucky Derby is intertwined with American history.
The Courier-Journal said the first day of the Derby was “wonderful good luck every time and the promise of a long and safe race. “That promise has been kept. That long run has remained secure for much longer than the paper could have imagined at the time.
Saturday will see the 150th Kentucky Derby, the longest-running event in the United States. Careers predate the automobile and the airplane, radio and television, Edison’s light bulb and Einstein’s relativity. It’s the anchor of longevity in American athletics.
Wars, contagions and economic calamities have not left him indifferent. World War II forced the 1945 edition to be moved to June, but the race was held. The COVID-19 pandemic may not have led to a cancellation, but it did present a great risk. that the 2020 race was postponed until September. Changes in social tastes, considerations about equine safety, a million more things to do: nothing interrupted an occasion that began with the arrival of Ulysses S. Grant to the position, a decade after Robert E. Lee. she turned herself in to him at the Appomattox courthouse.
There were 37 states in the Union at the time of the first election. The Rose Bowl, which in 1901 was called everyone’s grandfather, however, the Derby may simply be grandpa’s father.
From the winner of Baden-Baden in 1877 to Joe Biden, the Derby remains. From the 1899 winner, Manuel to Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Derby continues. From 1958 winner Tim Tam to TikTok, he wins the Derby.
In a world of unsettling and immediate change, the similarity of the Kentucky Derby is a powerful force. Traditions are immutable.
It was run at Churchill Downs, named after two men who were Clark’s cousins and who provided the ground for the track in Louisville’s South End. It was run on a dirt track. It has been a career reserved for 3 years. old horses. Since 1896, it has been an 11/4-mile race, shortened from the 11/2 miles of the first 21 races. That will never change.
In 146 of the last 149 editions, it has been held in May and, since 1946, more precisely on the first Saturday. The dogwoods bloom, Kentucky’s bluegrass thickens, and the Derby arrives each spring. The iconic spring sports calendar includes the Masters, Derby and Indianapolis 500. The Derby is 59 years older than the former and 36 years older than the latter.
Churchill is rarely very St. Andrews, founded in 1843, but it is old by American standards when it comes to sports facilities. The iconic Twin Spires were built atop the grandstand in 1895, 17 years before Fenway Park introduced its green monster. The paneled grandstand has been renovated several times, with additions and upgrades each year (an impressive $200 million multi-tiered paddock addition is expected this year), but it maintains an old-world feel.
The story is palpable. The names of each Derby winner are displayed on the grandstand walls in chronological order; The dominance of the barn at the end of the track is timeless. Walk past Barn 42, take a look at Stand 21 and it’s easy to believe that Secretary’s brown head was sticking out of there 51 years ago, before Big Red broke the Derby record at 1:592. /5 seconds, a legend in the making. Listen to the horse’s hooves pounding the earth during pre-dawn education and you can believe the wonderful Appointment doing the same thing, in the same place, 76 years ago.
For the 150,000 shoppers who will invade Central Avenue’s sprawling assets on Saturday (at woefully exclusive prices, and the cheapest entry tickets now cost $130), the same rituals take place every day of the Derby. What helps keep those traditions alive? Simple but difficult things: money and hard money; homesickness; confusing romance; a big party; and an incredibly dramatic two-minute run.
The lure of making money based on who wins and who loses is deeply ingrained in gaming culture, but horse racing arguably would have been the original drug of gambling. It’s an ancient game that embraced betting early on and never abandoned it. Although it has been illegal outside of Las Vegas for decades, racetracks were a great place to place some bets without the need for a sportsbook and with a low profile.
As a result, there are generations of Americans who have gone to the racetrack with their parents and noticed that they place bets (maybe two dollars, maybe $2,000) in the windows. There is interest in buying a daily running form or a published track program, interpreting hieroglyphs from beyond the pershapeance tables and then handing over cash paper in exchange for a betting slip. (Sure, more and more career enthusiasts are doing their business on their phones, but mutual employees are drifting away by any means. )
Romance arises from another form of nostalgia. No one wears molded clothing on athletic occasions anymore, unless it’s in the Derby. It’s the global capital of women in hats and men in seersuckers, a dress day that covers the entire spectrum of fashion, from chic (attendance for fitness checks makes the Derby a very Instagram-friendly event, increasing its popularity among younger generations).
Mint juleps can be consumed, even if the ones bought from track vendors would make high-level mixologists cringe. Cocktail culture had a renaissance in America, but at Churchill Downs it never went away. The component facet is an integral component of the Derby’s delight. (When it’s time to pass out after about 10 hours there, many of those lovely people are drunk, dazed, and disheveled, and wish they were wearing more suitable shoes. )
The race itself is incredibly unreplaced. Horses and riders still do their homework the same way they have (even if educational strategies and breeding philosophies have been replaced more substantially). Thoroughbreds are faster today than they were in the 1870s, but not necessarily faster than they were in the 1970s. They’re also less durable. )
Then and now, they’re lovely animals that move and rest, which is part of what has drawn talented writers to the sport. When you mix all the elements of the Derby – the big crowd, the festivities, the build-up of acute tension of the festival itself – the elements of romantic storytelling are still present. From the wonderful Sports Illustrated writer, William Nack, recounting his first Derby as a teenager in 1958:
“I can still see the writers piled up around that shiny, coppery brown, Silky Sullivan, who is already an immortal in the running, while his groom gave him a warm, soapy bath on the lawn outside his barn. . . The sun rises and counting the spare at his old lemonade stand in the sky, and a thin patina of sweat made Tim Tam’s chocolate coat glow in the dim light of the trees. He came into the race in style, his eyes on fire, as if he was lit up. through a Bedouin torch passed down from generation to generation, from the windswept deserts of Arabia to the ancient mountain lands of England and Kentucky.
Similar passages may be written this week, though not in as many words. The morning gallops, the soap baths, the sun’s rays warming the horses and humans, the eternal sensory reports of Derby week were passed on. The same goes for the rhythms of the race: the explosion of noise when the start gate opens, the pace at the first corner, the jockeys stopping to position themselves in the rear segment and making bold moves in the farthest corner, the frantic race to the finish line under the rain of roars, the jubilation of the victors. Two minutes and packs of change, a trustworthy emotional boost.
Despite this similarity, each year carries its own sense of urgency. This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion for equestrian competitors. A harvest of about 30,000 thoroughbred foals is reduced in 3 years to a maximum of 20 that are loaded in the first place. ” There’s no need to rearrange,” says Professor Todd Pletcher, who will saddle the more sensible seed Fierceness on Saturday.
Enormous amounts of mental power are exerted to check and determine who is going to win, but then the doors open and the possibility appears. In a two-minute test, a single calculation or miscalculation can make all the difference. An undeniable stroke of luck, smart or bad, can decide who will make history. Some horses, such as the Seattle Slew in 1977, showed their greatness on Derby day. Some horses struggle to make their way to fame and fortune; The last two Derby winners, Rich Strike in 2022 and Mage in 23, have never won any other races.
The first article on the Kentucky Derby in The Courier-Journal in 1875 praised Aristide’s performance: “He played the game bravely, and the swift son of Leamington and Sarong answered the call of his strength, for he kept his word at all times. Despite the most, we decided on the Volcano and Verdigris races, and knocked down the winner of one of the fastest and toughest races ever seen on the track.
On Saturday they will compete in this race for time. As usual. As usual.