By Lauren Williamson, Sport Management, ’25

Let The Countdown Begin.

The countdown for the race that is known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” has officially begun. This marks the 150 th run for the iconic Kentucky Derby and the largest purse in history was announced. The purse will be guaranteed $5 million, a $2 million dollar increase from 2023. Each year, on the first Saturday of May twenty horses have a once in a lifetime chance to “run for the roses.” There is not a “second chance” for glory because only 3-year-old-Thoroughbreds are eligible to run in the race. There are a series of races that are at designated tracks around the world for the horses to earn points to win a spot to race at the Derby.

As Tradition Has it….
What are all of these over-the-top hats’ women wear? The racetrack back in 1875 when the Derby started was considered not such a moral place. The founder Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. wanted the race to be more proper encouraging women of “high society” to put on their fanciest “attire” He wanted the Derby as the place where the “wealthy” class was to be seen. Bringing this class of people to the track eventually changed the whole culture of horse track racing. Today the tradition of fascinating (an elaborate) and flashy, colorful hats lives on, but no one has to be encouraged to attend. Starting at around $65.00 you can bring your own chairs and a picnic basket to the infield and enjoy the race from the world’s largest 4k video screen. A wide variety of ticket options are offered from the infield to the clubhouse starting around $1500, to the private suites which can you put you back over a quarter of a million dollars! The race today is a far cry from begging to get people to come to a place of class today. I do believe Colonel Clark would be very pleased!

 

Track Reopened

Churchill Downs reopened the track on March 20, 2024, after nine months of being shut down as the track was being reviewed due to the death of a dozen horses last year. Seven racehorses died prior to the race, two on Derby Day and before the decision to made to close the course twelve in total met their death. In 2009, The Racehorse Integrity and Safety Authority (HISA) launched the Equine Injury Database. 2023 saw
1.23 racing fatalities per one thousand starts, the number was a slight decrease from 2022 which was at 1.25 per one thousand. Outside the HISA, there were 1.63 deaths per 1000 starts and that number increased a whooping 32.6 percent from 2022. Also, that does not take in account horses that died off track. If you recall last year at Churchill Downs, Code of Kings became fixated from the lights of a DJ booth and
flipped in the paddock. He broke his neck. Very sad to see any of these beautiful creatures die and it often comes in clusters. In 2019, at Santa Anita, twenty-two horses died within two months of each other.

2024 Predictions

Joe Kristufek who is the senior producer and racing analyst for Churchill Downs, Fair Grounds and Ellis Park, betkentucky.com, and multiple other sites, current favorite is Sierra Leone, the winner of Risen Star and is favored 7-1. Other horses next on the Kentucky Derby odds board are Fierceness (9-1), Dornoch (13-1) and Forever Young (12-1). If you are looking on betting on the favorite consider that since 1908, the favorite has won the Derby 40 times but has not claimed the top prize since 2018. One Thing Is for Sure, Whichever victorious horse wins the “Run for the Roses” will be in the winner’s circle draped with a garland of roses, a tradition started in 1896 with the Derby winner
receiving the roses. The now iconic blanket of red roses was first draped on “Burgoo King” in 1932. I think nothing could be more fitting to end today’s blog with a moving tribute to all the horses who chase the Derby dream with Dan Fogelberg’s “Run for the Roses”