Preview: 150 Years of the Kentucky Derby

150 YEARS OF THE

Kentucky Derby

Through the Lens and Voice of The Courier Journal

ON THE COVER: Secretariat is the most iconic of Kentucky Derby winners and we feel deserves to be on the cover of “150 Years of the Kentucky Derby.” (COURIER JOURNAL ARCHIVES). Below, we feature some highlights of what makes Kentucky Derby not just a race, but a beloved event both in Louisville and across the country.

OPPOSITE: The field of the 150th Kentucky Derby heads past the grandstands on their first pass down the front stretch, May 4, 2024. The race was won by Mystik Dan by a nose in a photo finish. MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND O’NEIL ARNOLD

Credits

Reporters

Kirby Adams

Jason Frakes

Maggie Menderski

Editors

Michael Clevenger

Kathryn Gregory

Natalie Pierre

Dann Miller

Pat McDonogh

Mary Irby-Jones: USA Today Network Midwest Regional Editor / Courier Journal Executive Editor

Veda Morgan: Senior Director of Engagement

Photography

Copyright © 2024 by The Courier Journal All Rights Reserved • ISBN: 978-1-63846-093-0

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the copyright owner or the publisher.

Published by Pediment Publishing, a division of The Pediment Group, Inc. www.pediment.com • Printed in Canada.

This book is an unofficial account of Kentucky Derby history and is not endorsed by Churchill Downs Incorporated.

Images without credit are from the Courier Journal Archives. Photographers either on staff or part of the Courier Journal coverage team and are identified by just their names. These photographers are: Art Abfier, George Bailey, Gean Baron, Cort Best, Al Blunk, Stewart Bowman, James Calvert, Lin Caulfield, Gary S. Chapman, Michael Clevenger, Michael Coers, Barney Cowherd, Billy Davis, H. Harold Davis, Stan Denny, Jeff Faughender, Charles Fentress, Dick Ferguson, R.C. Fuller, Jim Gensheimer, Mary Ann Gerth, Angie Gottschalk, Clare Grant, Jack Gruber, Durell Hall Jr., C. Thomas Hardin, Jebb Harris, Michael Hayman, Brooks Honeycutt, Ben Van Hook, Boyzell Hosey, Maggie Huber, Bud Kamenish, James A. Keen, Warren Klosterman, Wallace Lowry, Bill Luster, David Lutman, Pat McDonogh, Thomas V. Miller, James L. Mooney, Rich Nugent, Richard Nugent, Jamie Rhodes, Paul Schuhmann, Pam Spaulding, Peggy Spencer, Larry Spitzer, Robert Steinau, Bowman Stewart, Matt Stone, Bill Strode, Alton Strupp, Sam Upshaw Jr., Scott Utterback, Richard T. Wade, James H. Wallace, Ken Weaver, Jon Webb, Keith Williams, Whit Wooten. Images not part of the Courier Journal archives are identified by the source of the images and are reproduced with their permission.

Special

thank you to the Kentucky Derby Museum and Churchill Downs, Inc.

History

A century and a half ago, when Aristides and jockey Oliver Lewis stormed the finish line becoming the first Kentucky Derby winners, there was no way to know the spectacle would mature into the longestrunning annual sporting event in the United States.

At the same time, Louisville had an inkling it bet on something special.

By Maggie Menderski

The Kentucky Derby was touted as a success even before Churchill Downs — the storied racetrack where the iconic race is held — formally opened its doors in 1875 as the Louisville Jockey Club.

“To-day will be historic in Kentucky annals as the first ‘Derby Day,’” read the May 17, 1875, edition of The Courier Journal. “Of what promises to be a long series of annual turf festivities which we confidently expect our grandchildren 100 years hence to celebrate in glorious centennial rejoicing.”

If only the people of 19th-century Louisville could see the Kentucky Derby now, nearly another 50 years after that centennial. Those “annual turf festivities” have forged a place in history as one of the most celebrated horse races in the world.

So many legends and heroes are woven into 150 runnings of the Kentucky Derby. Sometimes greatness is born in the competitors, like Secretariat, who charged to victory 51 years ago in 1:59 2/5 seconds — a record that still stands, powered by a heart three times the size of his opponents. Or even in a long shot, like 2022 Kentucky Derby winner Rich Strike, who pulled off one of the most unthinkable upsets in the race’s history with 80–1 odds. Other times, it’s formed in the infield by a creative 1970s racegoer

OPPOSITE: The twin spires are pictured above the main grandstand at Churchill Downs ahead of the 27th Kentucky Derby, April 29, 1901. The spires were added to the building in 1895.

DETROIT PUBLISHING COMPANY PHOTOGRAPH COLLECTION (LIBRARY OF CONGRESS), LC-DIG-DET-4A06266

who smuggled a volleyball net and poles into the track undetected, or the daring spectators who darted atop Porta-Potties in their own unsavory competition while the most elite race horses in the country thundered on the track around them.

The Kentucky Derby is more than an annual horse race. It’s a unique confluence of culture, athleticism, history and fashion. Each spring, horse racing fans turn out on the first Saturday in May for Louisville’s annual unmatched display of pageantry and skill. You can measure this grandeur in the large, embellished

years after the tradition has begun. But in 1875, that old newspaper clipping suggests the hope for Louisville was both simple and daringly ambitious.

The Kentucky Derby would be “a duplicate of the English turf event” and welcome “thousands of visitors from distant cities.”

Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. traveled to Europe in the early 1870s and returned with a plan to build a “great racing center of the Western culture,” as it was described in the May 10, 1875, edition of The Courier Journal. He acquired a

“To-day will be historic in Kentucky annals as the first ‘Derby Day.’ Of what promises to be a long series of annual turf festivities which we confidently expect our grandchildren 100 years hence to celebrate in glorious centennial rejoicing.”

THE COURIER JOURNAL, MAY 17, 1875

rims of hats and the hefty wagers that reach deep into pocketbooks. You can see it in the star-studded red carpet that’s drawn presidents, popstars, sports legends and Hollywood’s finest to Derby City. You can hear it in the roar of the 150,000 voices that call out from the stands as soon as the starting gate clangs open and the announcer shouts three electrifying words: And they’re off.

As with the first of anything, you can’t truly understand the magnitude until

Kentucky existed as a border state, where Union and Confederate allegiances often shattered family ties. Even so, the bustling port along the Ohio River never saw a battle.

As much of the American South was rebuilding itself decades after the war, Louisville was touting its amenities. Kentucky’s largest city had “a direct railroad connection within every quarter of the whole country and ample accommodations for thousands of visitors,” The Courier Journal said.

Even though it would be another 28 years before Orville and Wilbur Wright would take their first flight and set the stage for how racegoers from all over the world would eventually travel to Louisville, the city’s geographic position made it a desirable spot to draw in and host spectators and athletes.

More than 10,000 people attended the first Kentucky Derby and, over time, that number has ballooned to the unfathomable 156,710, who watched Mystik Dan step into the Winner’s Circle after the 150th running on May 4, 2024.

plot of farmland in 1874 about four miles south of downtown from his uncles, John and Henry Churchill, to build a racing complex.

He believed Louisville, which was settled by his grandfather, George Rogers Clark, in 1778, was a prime location for an esteemed competition.

Louisville had been on the map for nearly a century when the racetrack opened, and it had weathered the Civil War better than many southern cities.

Remarkably, most years on Kentucky Derby Day, Churchill Downs hosts more people in one afternoon than the population of Bowling Green, the third largest city in Kentucky.

Clark’s vision in the late 1800s was dynamic, but the event itself and the pomp and circumstance around it took generations to evolve into what it is today.

Cameras and photographs were rare in late 19th century Kentucky, and in its earliest days, the public relied heavily on the writing of journalists and the stories of spectators to understand what the Louisville Jockey Club was building.

one of the spires today, he likely wouldn’t recognize anything about Louisville or the track except the dirt.

While it’s impossible to know how long the Kentucky Derby may stand as the longest, continuously held sporting event in the United States, or even how long that view from the spires may exist, undoubtedly the Derby runs each year in tandem with history.

When jockey Brian Hernandez Jr. and Mystik Dan crossed the finish line and defeated two other competitors by a nose in a photo finish during the 150th running, they joined the ranks of all the legends who raced in the Kentucky Derby before them.

They became part of a “glorious” spectacle that started as “annual turf festivities” on an unknown track in 1875 and flourished steadily into one of the most celebrated sporting events in the world. •

RIGHT: Delmas Harris Jr. of Indianapolis watches the races on the day of the 78th Kentucky Derby, May 3, 1952.

BARNEY COWHERD

LEFT: A father and daughter hug in the grandstands on the day of the 81st Kentucky Derby, May 7, 1955. WHIT WOOTEN

FAR LEFT: A young boy watches the races from his father’s shoulders on Derby Day at Churchill Downs. BILL STRODE

BELOW LEFT: The scene at Churchill Downs ahead of the 80th Kentucky Derby, May 1, 1954.

LEFT: Two thoroughbreds are kept warm under heat lamps in their stalls at Michelle Lovell’s stable on the backside of Churchill Downs, April 19, 2020. The 146th Kentucky Derby would end up being pushed back to Sept. 5, 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. PAT MCDONOGH

OPPOSITE: A lone horse gallops on the track during morning workouts, as a storm front moves across Churchill Downs during morning workouts, April 29, 2017, ahead of the 143rd Kentucky Derby.

PAT MCDONOGH

BELOW LEFT: Connie Ann is bathed on the backside of Churchill Downs, May 2, 2018. The horse is part of the Vance Racing Stable taking part in the 144th Kentucky Derby.

PAT MCDONOGH

Kentucky Derby Winners 2015–2024

1: 2015, American Pharoah KRAMER CASWELL

2: 2016, Nyquist MICHAEL CLEVENGER

3: 2017, Always Dreaming MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND O’NEIL ARNOLD

4: 2018, Justify MATT STONE

5: 2019, Country House MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND CHRISTOPHER GRANGER

6: 2020, Authentic MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND JEFF FAUGHENDER

7: 2021, Mandaloun* PAT MCDONOGH

8: 2022, Rich Strike MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND CHRISTOPHER GRANGER

9: 2023, Mage SAM UPSHAW JR.

10: 2024, Mystik Dan CLARE GRANT

*Original winner Medina Spirit was disqualified

OPPOSITE: The field makes its way down the front stretch at the start of the 143rd Kentucky Derby, May 6, 2017. MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND ERIK MOHN

LEFT: Mystik Dan, with Brian Hernandez Jr. aboard, right, battles with Forever Young, with Ryusei Sakai up, center, and Sierra Leone, with Tyler Gaffalione aboard, to win the 150th Kentucky Derby, May, 4, 2024.

MICHAEL CLEVENGER AND CHRISTOPHER GRANGER

OPPOSITE: Sierra Leone, foreground, races to a photo finish with Forever Young, middle, and Mystik Dan, rail, at the conclusion of the 150th Kentucky Derby, May 4, 2024. Mystik Dan would take the roses by a nose. SCOTT UTTERBACK

BELOW LEFT: Trainer Kenny McPeek holds the gold winner’s trophy with wife Sherri and daughter Ann in the Winner's Circle after Mystik Dan won the 150th Kentucky Derby, May 4, 2024.

MATT STONE

OPPOSITE: Big hats and fancy dresses are everywhere at Churchill Downs on Derby Day, May 6, 2023. MATT

ABOVE: Michelle Barnes wore a fashionable hat as she arrived for the 150th Kentucky Derby, May 4, 2024. SAM UPSHAW JR.

LEFT: Patrice White wore a hat created with multiple silk roses made by milliner Christine Moore, May 2, 2024, ahead of the 150th Kentucky Derby. SAM UPSHAW JR.

STONE

Community Celebration

The fun and games of the Kentucky Derby begin long before the actual horse race. Derby week energy pulsates throughout the city as hundreds of thousands of race fans flood into Louisville to be part of what Forbes described as “one of the greatest bucket-list sporting events in America.” But for locals, the celebrations started weeks in advance.

For those lucky enough to live in Louisville, the Kentucky Derby Festival adds to the festive atmosphere. A community-wide celebration that started in the 1950s, it has grown to include more than 70 Kentucky Derby-related events stretching over several weeks.

The official kick-off to the Kentucky Derby Festival starts with a bang in April during Thunder Over Louisville, one of the largest fireworks shows in the country. Crowds gather on the Kentucky and Indiana shores of the Ohio River for the day-long event, which includes a massive air show and culminates after sundown with a fireworks extravaganza set to music.

“In the mid-1950s, civic leaders including Earl Ruby, a Courier Journal columnist, decided it was important to create something fun and free for the community of Louisville because a large number of people didn’t have the means to go to the track on Derby Day,” said Jack

Guthrie, former president of the Kentucky Derby Festival 1971–1977. “The Kentucky Derby Festival’s first event was held in 1956. It was a free parade that marched down Fourth Street and attracted 50,000 people. From there the festival has grown into what it is today.”

The organization is led by more than 20 full-time staff and hundreds of community volunteers who work yearround to produce the popular festival of

“We take what we do seriously, but in the end, we are in the business of fun.”

KENTUCKY DERBY FESTIVAL PRESIDENT AND CEO MATT GIBSON

events. Between mid-March and the first Saturday in May, the city is buzzing with Kentucky Derby Festival happenings. Besides Thunder Over Louisville, which draws up to 500,000 spectators, there is an old-fashioned steamboat race, hot air balloon races, free outdoor concerts, foot races, a spring fashion show, a parade that has been led by celebrities including John Wayne, Muhammad Ali and General Norman Schwarzkopf.

The Kentucky Derby Festival’s Block Party has become a new annual tradition and shines the spotlight on talent and resources throughout Louisville, including minority-owned businesses in West Louisville. Guests stop by to enjoy an allday celebration featuring cuisine from local food trucks, live entertainment, a shopping marketplace, wellness activations, a vendor fair, programming and more.

As the president and CEO of one of the largest festivals in the United States, Matt Gibson said the Kentucky Derby Festival’s six-decade history has created traditions that are now part of the DNA of Louisville.

“We take what we do seriously, but in the end, we are in the business of fun,” Gibson said.

That fun extends to events at Churchill Downs Racetrack, where Opening Night of the Spring Meet is held the Saturday before the Kentucky Derby. Horse racing, mint juleps, twinkling white lights, cigars, high fashion, music and old friends meet up to get the Derby party rolling.

For the hardy local, each day of Derby week, except Monday, is a reason to head to the racetrack. Tuesday, dubbed “502’sDay,” is a day for locals to enjoy horse racing and festivities for $5 at the track. Champions Day is Wednesday of

OPPOSITE: The Thunder Over Louisville fireworks show, viewed from atop the Mercer Building downtown, kicks off the Kentucky Derby Festival, April 21, 2018. ALTON STRUPP

Winners

Year-by-Year Kentucky Derby Winners

Year Horse Time Jockey Trainer

1875 Aristides 2:37.75 Oliver Lewis Ansel Williamson

1876 Vagrant 2:38.25 Bobby Swim James Williams

1877 Baden-Baden 2:38.00 Billy Walker Edward D. Brown

1878 Day Star 2:37.25 Jimmy Carter Lee Paul

1879 Lord Murphy 2:37.00 Charlie Shauer George Rice

1880 Fonso 2:37.50 George Lewis Tice Hutsell

1881 Hindoo 2:40.00 Jim McLaughlin James G. Rowe, Sr.

1882 Apollo 2:40.00 Babe Hurd Green B. Morris

1883 Leonatus 2:43.00 Billy Donohue Raleigh Colston

1884 Buchanan 2:40.25 Isaac Murphy William Bird

1885 Joe Cotton 2:37.25 Erskine Henderson Abe Perry

1886 Ben Ali 2:36.50 Paul Duffy Jim Murphy

1887 Montrose 2:39.25 Isaac Lewis John McGinty

1888 Macbeth II 2:38.00 George Covington John Campbell

1889 Spokane 2:34.50 Thomas Kiley John Rodegap

1890 Riley 2:45.00 Isaac Murphy Edward Corrigan 1891 Kingman 2:52.25 Isaac Murphy Dud Allen

Year Horse Time Jockey Trainer

1892 Azra 2:41.50 Alonzo Clayton John H. Morris

1893 Lookout 2:39.25 Eddie Kunze William McDaniel

1894 Chant 2:41.00 Frank Goodale H. Eugene Leigh

1895 Halma 2:37.50 Soup Perkins Byron McClelland

1896 Ben Brush 2:07.75 Willie Simms Hardy Campbell Jr.

1897 Typhoon II 2:12.50 Buttons Garner J. C. Cahn

1898 Plaudit 2:09.00 Willie Simms John E. Madden

1899 Manuel 2:12.00 Fred Taral Robert J. Walden

1900 Lieut. Gibson 2:06.25 Jimmy Boland Charles Hughes

1901 His Eminence 2:07.75 Jimmy Winkfield Frank B. Van Meter

1902 Alan-a-Dale 2:08.75 Jimmy Winkfield Thomas C. McDowell

1903 Judge Himes 2:09.00 Hal Booker John P. Mayberry

1904 Elwood 2:08.50 Shorty Prior Charles E. Durnell

1905 Agile 2:10.75 Jack Martin Robert Tucker

1906 Sir Huon 2:08.80 Roscoe Troxler Pete Coyne

1907 Pink Star 2:12.60 Andy Minder W. H. Fizer

1908 Stone Street 2:15.20 Arthur Pickens J. W. Hall 1909 Wintergreen 2:08.20 Vincent Powers Charles Mack

1910 Donau 2:06.40 Frederick Herbert George Ham

1911 Meridian 2:05.00 George Archibald Albert Ewing 1912 Worth 2:09.40 Carroll H. Shilling Frank M. Taylor

1913 Donerail 2:04.80 Roscoe Goose Thomas P. Hayes

1914 Old Rosebud 2:03.40 John McCabe Frank D. Weir

1915 Regret ** 2:05.40 Joe Notter James G. Rowe, Sr.

1916 George Smith 2:04.00 Johnny Loftus Hollie Hughes

1917 Omar Khayyam 2:04.60 Charles Borel Charles T. Patterson

1918 Exterminator 2:10.80 Willie Knapp Henry McDaniel

1919 Sir Barton * 2:09.80 Johnny Loftus H. Guy Bedwell

1920 Paul Jones 2:09.00 Ted Rice Billy Garth

1921 Behave Yourself 2:04.20 Charles Thompson Herbert J. Thompson

LEFT: Alan-a-Dale, winner of the 28th Kentucky Derby held May 3, 1902. CHURCHILL DOWNS, INC. / KINETIC CORPORATION