LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — The roar of a thunderous crowd marked the moment when the American Pharoah made his move and kicked it into the higher gear as he took over the ground of the last two remaining rivals ahead of him. He came from the back and surged into the lead just a furlong away from the finish line and won with just a length deternment from the second-placed horse in the 2015 Kentucky Derby.
“I think that nothing can beat giving the Kentucky Derby victory,” Espinoza said in his three-time winners’ speech. And that’s mine: the most important thing in horse racing. undefined
The greatest sporting event in the United States which is held more or less for one and a half century is in two days on Saturday. It is older than the Westminster dog show by two years and it’s also the longest robotic journey ever. Derby has come over and passed two world wars, the Great Depression and viral diseaeses, such as that of COVID-19 in 2020, when there was no usual crowd of 150 000. The horse race went ahead in silence.
Only once a year, on Derby Day, one can find all the accompanying pageantry, which the most diverse, from mad hats, to a people in their Sunday best, and the juleps served in souvenir glasses, the crowd singing “My Old Kentucky Home” and the winner of the race has the hand-sewn garland of red roses. The Derby was the next to the Super Bowl in ranking of events that people in the US watched.
“Many listeners can attest the saying that they have always wanted to come and watch the one horse race each year,” trainer, Todd Pletcher who has won twice, and this year’s favourite is Fierceness, reported.
One chance only
Part of what makes the Derby unique is horses have just one chance to run in it since only 3-year-olds are eligible. It’s also the only race in America with a 20-horse field. Since 2013, horses have had to accumulate points in qualifying races to earn their way in. Previously, money won in graded stakes races decided the field.
“It’s very tough to keep them on the path to get to the Derby, get into the Derby, and then, hopefully, it all goes well, and you get a good, clean trip,” said trainer Brad Cox, a Louisville native who will saddle Catching Freedom, Encino and Just a Touch on Saturday.
Louisvillians take pride in their city’s tradition that dates to 1875, whipping up at-home versions of such high-calorie delicacies as a Benedictine dip (grated cucumber, cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo), Derby pie (chocolate chips and nuts) and cocktails if they’re not going to the track.
Diversity struggles
Thirteen of the 15 jockeys in the first Derby were Black, including Oliver Lewis, who rode Aristides to victory in front of 10,000 cheering fans in 1875.
Black riders won 15 of the first 28 Derbies, and then there were none from 1920-2000. As Jim Crow laws were introduced, segregation spread throughout the nation, including horse racing where it was nearly impossible for Black riders to get licensed.
The last Black jockey in the race was Kendrick Carmouche in 2021.
Black trainers also dominated the Derby’s early years, winning seven of the first 17 from 1875-1891. On Saturday, Larry Demeritte will be just the second since 1951 and 17th overall when he saddles long shot West Saratoga.
Protestors demanding racial justice and an end to police brutality demonstrated outside Churchill Downs in 2020 and 2021 after Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black EMT, was killed by police in a botched drug raid at her Louisville home.
Women have been a sporadic presence in the Derby, too. Only six have ridden in the race, the last being Rosie Napravnik in 2014. Seven women have trained Derby runners, with Vicki Oliver last doing so in 2021.
“It’s an incredibly hard race just to get into, let alone win,” Cox said.
Horse safety
Cox was declared the 2021 winner, nine months after the race when Medina Spirit was disqualified for a failed drug test — only the second such DQ in race history — and Mandaloun was elevated to first.
“We’re all trying to win this race to experience the thrill of victory,” Cox said, “and we’ve yet to do that.”
The Derby’s image took a major hit last year when 12 horses died at Churchill Downs in the weeks surrounding the race. An independent investigation cleared the track of any fault, and no singular cause was found. The track continued training but moved the remainder of its spring racing meet to western Kentucky.
The trainer who owns a record-tying six victories isn’t in Louisville for the third straight year. Bob Baffert has been banned by Churchill Downs Inc. ever since Medina Spirit’s failed drug test upended the 2021 results.
Baffert fought his original two-year suspension in court but lost a year ago. Last summer, the track said it was extending the suspension through 2024. It cited “continued concerns regarding the threat to the safety and integrity of racing he poses.”
Sparkling showcase
Churchill Downs Inc., the track’s publicly traded parent company with shareholders to satisfy, has spent $500 million renovating and modernizing over the last decade. Its newest showpiece is the $200 million paddock, where fans who don’t mind dropping up to $12,000 can dine and watch the horses being saddled before the races.
In its 150th year, the Derby’s purse has been boosted to a record $5 million, with $3.1 million going to the winning owner.
Despite all the changes with the race, the track, and the intrusion of current events over the years, the first Saturday in May endures.
“The one thing that continues is you got 20 of the best 3-year-olds from around the world,” said trainer Doug O’Neill, a two-time Derby winner.
“It seems like the one mainstay that we can rely on,” Pletcher said.
