A Run for the Roses

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“And it’s run for the roses

As fast as you can

Your fate is delivered

Your moment’s at hand

It’s the chance of a lifetime

In a lifetime of chance

And it’s high time you joined

In the dance

It’s high time you joined

In the dance.”

                -“Run for the Roses,” written & performed by Dan Fogelberg

For any horseracing fan, a visit to Churchill Downs is a must. On the first Saturday in May for the past 144 years, three-year-old thoroughbreds have taken to the legendary track for the Kentucky Derby and tried to capture horseracing’s first of the Triple Crown races. In 2018, Justify won the crown – consisting of the Derby, the Preakness Stakes (in Maryland), and the Belmont Stakes (New York).

But on the day of my visit to the Kentucky Derby Museum, which is housed on the same grounds as the track, Justify’s historic “Run for the Roses” (so nicknamed for the blanket of flowers draped upon the winner’s back) is still half a year away.

General admission includes a 30-minute walking tour and access to all the museum features. I choose from an additional menu of tours, tacking on the Barn and Backside Van Tour for an additional fee.

Patrons can get their blood pumping for the excitement of the Derby right from the start by viewing “The Greatest Race,” an 18-minute film played on a 360-degree, 4K high-resolution theater. It is difficult to explain in writing just how majestic this movie is, the ways it is projected and played, but it’s safe to say that even the most casual racing fans will wish afterwards they could step out into the stands of Churchill Downs on Derby Day immediately after leaving the theater.

The museum has exhibits on every aspect of the Kentucky Derby – spotlights on the horses and jockeys; a closer look at the fancy hats and attire worn by attendees; the path from foal to entrant; and much more. There’s an also an opportunity to ride a mechanical horse in a simulation game, and the ability to view any of the past races on your own personal screen.

 

All the Triple Crown winners – from Sir Barton in 1919 to American Pharaoh in 2015 (and now Justify, 2018) – receive royal treatment with more in-depth profiles. Prominent trainers and owners, and horses who fell short of the Triple Crown in the Belmont, and other notable figures, are all given a spot in the limelight. And the museum features a touching tribute to Winning Colors (1988) and the two fillies before her – Genuine Risk (1980) and Regret (1915) – to wear the roses.

On the tours we learn that the track is 75% sand, 23% silt, and 2% clay. The Derby is preceded by a two-week festival all over the city. Locals call the Thursday before the Derby “Thurby.” On Friday, the Kentucky Oaks takes place (“Lilies for the Fillies”). The board in the center of the track is the size of three NBA courts, which comes in handy for many patrons on Derby day because the site is so thoroughly packed (some 100-120 thousand fill the infield alone).

The average jockey stands 5’4” and weighs 110-115 pounds. Secretariat’s heart was three times the normal size. The number 10 slot has produced the highest number of winners, while number 17 is scarily unlucky (no horse starting from that slot has ever won). Donerail is the biggest long-shot victory in Derby history, having won in 1913 with 91:1 odds (meaning for a $2 bet, you walk away with $182 – adjusted for inflation, that’s $4,682 today).

Churchill Downs contains 47 racing stables and has a holding cell for drunks. From March through November, 700 workers live full-time in about 250 dorms. There’s 1,400 total stalls, in which horses spend up to 22 hours a day. It has a chapel, too, though services are held on Monday since Sunday is a race day. One building is marked “Press Center,” but that is only the case one day a year. The other 364 days, it is simply a rec hall. 158,070 people attended the Derby in 2017, about 148,000 more than the number that attended way back in 1875.

              

The “Sport of Kings” does not attract the patronage and attention of the major sports, but Derby Weekend is truly an event that brings premium customers and prices. The local Super 8 costs around $55 most of the year; on Derby Day it soars to $600 a night. Anything downtown will run you in the neighborhood of a grand, and the Brown Hotel (which the day of this writing would cost just under $200) goes for $2,000 a night. In addition to that, most hotels require a minimum four-night stay.

Then there’s the mint julep. This bourbon-based cocktail became associated with Derby in the 1930s, and you can have one in a collectible glass. For a Derby glass, it will cost you $14. To have it in a silver cup, you need pay $1,000. For twice that amount, you can have it in a gold cup.

The tours are filled with fun facts, but truly it is amazing to be surrounded by something that carries such an aura and a history. To walk the same path the horses do from the paddock to the track is a little bit of a surreal experience: to imagine the electricity of the crowd as the jockeys’ dreams of running in the Derby come to fruition; the anticipation building with each step of a hoof closer to the oval where legends have been born.

When I have seen everything, I sit down at the Derby Café. The Pulled Southern Bar-B-Que is savory and the service impeccable. A visit to the Gift Shop caps my fantastic time at the Kentucky Derby Museum. For horseracing fans, it’s a do-this-before-you-die pilgrimage. For everyone else, it’s a insightful, beautiful place.