Derby Running Festival
The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I dirt race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, run annually on the first Saturday in May. The horses race 1 1/4 miles on a left-handed track. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds, and fillies carry 121. It is the first leg of the Triple Crown, typically lasting about two minutes, hence the nickname “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports.” It is the most-watched and most-attended horse race in the United States. The Derby has run since 1875, sharing deep continuity with the Kentucky Oaks; both have been held every year since their inception, even when the schedule required adjustments within a year. Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. helped establish the race after studying racing in England and France. The winner is draped in a blanket of roses, earning the nickname “The Run for the Roses.” The race concludes the two-week Kentucky Derby Festival and is part of racing history with Secretariat’s record time of 1:59.4.
