The
Kentucky Derby is one of the most prestigous events on the horse racing calendar. It is also the first race of the famous Triple Crown - the Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes making up the other two legs.
Horse racing in Kentucky is steeped in history going back to the late seventeen hundreds
where the first course was laid out in Lexington. A century later, in 1875, Churchill
Downs officially opened as the venue for the Kentucky Derby.
For his inaugural race meet, founder Col. M. Lewis Clark, decided on three major stakes
races, the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Clark Handicap. These were based on the three
premier races in England, the Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks and St. Leger Stakes, respectively.
These events have each been held continuously at Churchill Downs since 1875.
The racetrack was build on land owned by the Churchill family of Louisville, Kentucky.
The track opened on 17 May 1875 and that was the day of the first Kentucky Derby won by
Aristides.
For the next 20 years the races followed the English Derby 'model' and were 1.5 miles long.
A year later in 1896 they changed the length of the Derby to 1.25 miles - its current length on the dirt surface track.
However, the Derby was really just a regional race, until 1902, when Colonel Matt J. Winn took over the track.
Although he had seen every Kentucky Derby since the beginning, Winn knew little about horse racing. But he was a good promoter.
After saving Churchill Downs from bankruptcy, Winn spent time in New York, then the center of American racing, to coerce owners into entering their horses in the Kentucky Derby.
His persistence was rewarded. By 1920, the Derby had become the best-known race in America and it was bringing in top three-year-olds from all over the country.
The twin spires that sit above the home-stretch grand-stands were built in 1895 and are still one of the most recognized structures in sport.
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