Churchill Downs

5 Things You Need To Know About The Kentucky Derby

The Derby is the one time of year it’s perfectly acceptable to dress up in a hat as large as a small country to go bet on ponies and drink excessively. 

The Rundown: 5 Things To Know About The Kentucky Derby

Churchill Downs is the place to be this weekend for the 143rd running of the Kentucky Derby.

 

We have this filly covered,

The Last Night’s Game

Five things about the Kentucky Derby

  1. The horses in the race are male and three years old. Not older, not younger. Three. Talk about child labor.
  2. Unlike previous years, there’s no clear-cut front runner in this year’s race. If you need an underdog to cheer for, there’s a one-eyed horse racing in this year’s Derby. He’s aptly named….Patch.
  3. The mint julep has been the official cocktail of the Derby since 1938. The drink is typically made with Early Times Whiskey and over 120,000 juleps are sold every year at the Derby.
  4. The Derby is the first race in the quest for the triple crown. Becoming a triple crown winner means that the horse won at the Kentucky Derby, Belmont Stakes and Preakness Stakes.
  5. We can’t talk Derby without talking fashion. The tradition of hats and colorful attire was started as a goal to attract high–class folks to the track. The tradition stuck and the hats have become bigger and bolder.

For live coverage from Churchill Downs (including how to bet on the race), make sure to follow us on Instagram and Facebook.

Overtime

  • The Chicago Cubs (MLB – Major League Baseball) waited 108 years for a World Series trophy and it only took a concert going crowd a few minutes to damage it. The World Series trophy did some crowd surfing at a recent charity concert and didn’t come back all in one piece. Some people can’t have nice stuff.

Sideline stat

  • If you really want to sound like you know what’s happening on the race track, the race is measured in furlongs. There are eight furlongs in a mile and the Kentucky Derby is 10 furlongs long. (Say that five times fast). 

Coaches’ corner

  • With names like Danzing Candy, Ocho Ocho Ocho and My Wife Doesn’t Know it seems like anything goes for a race horse name. There are a lot of rules to abide by when naming a derby horse but some of them are:
    • The name can’t exceed 18 characters (including spaces).
    • The name can’t be all numbers.
    • The name may not end in any horse related terms such as filly or stallion.

For more info, check out this handy article.

 

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