Kentucky Derby Museum Part 1

On Tuesday, Melissa and I arrived in Kentucky. Instead of staying at a hotel, we stayed at a Bed and Breakfast. There was a resident Border Collie named Fly.

From our window, we could see fields of horses and cattle.

The next day, we drove to Louisville to see  The Kentucky Derby Museum. It was my first time and it had been a while since Melissa had gone.
The Barbaro Statue stood out front. 
We took a tour, which included seeing the racetrack. But before getting into that, we walked around the actual museum!
Plenty of outfits filled the museum. Fashion isn’t an art that I’m into, but some of the outfits were pretty cool!
I loved the Derby Hats.

There’s a breyer!
The Winner’s Circle has a manikin of the current winner of the Derby in it. It’s updated each season, and this year it’s American Pharaoh. 

Loved his face!
Exhibit cases held tack, saddle clothes, and other racing memorabilia.
Affirmed’s saddle cloth
(Can’t remember who this belonged too)
(Racing saddle that I can’t remember who it belonged to).
Secretariat also had an exhibit.
 
Each Derby winner had a block that included their info, so here’s a couple of the blocks.

Before the 2003 Seabiscuit movie, there was this one. I saw it years ago on TV and it had actual footage of Seabiscuit racing.
I must say that my favorite part was the simulation ride. Melissa and I played four or so times. 
We also dressed up like jockeys. Five hours of  the drive down I decided to learn how to take selfies. Yay for texting and having a selfie savvy sister.
That concludes the museum part! Next comes the racetrack and a couple of actual horses!

Triple Crown!

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37 years ago, Affirmed claimed the Triple Crown and Alydar came in second for the third time. When Affirmed won, I wasn’t born. In my mother’s words, “You weren’t even a thought, lemme tell ya.”

The race was wonderful and American Pharoah is a great champion. American Pharoah is my first Triple Crown winner, and what a race!
(Hopefully we won’t have to wait another 37 years for another Triple Crown Champion)

The First Derby Winner

Tomorrow is the 139th running of the Kentucky Derby. But where did it all start from?

The First Derby Winner

Using this book, here’s the story of the first Derby Winner. 

On May 17, 1875,  10,000 fans went out to Churchill Downs. They flooded the grounds in wagons, buggies, carts, and carriages.  The fashion was still the same as it is today. Ladies dressed with decorated  gowns, hats, and gloves.The first Kentucky Derby cost $1050 to enter. $50 was for the Stakes and $1000 was paid to the Louisville Racing Association. The award was a 300 ounce silver punch bowl worth $1000. 

I pulled the list of runners from Wikipedia

  • Aristides
  • Volcano
  • Verdigris
  • Bob Woolley
  • Ten Broeck
  • Grenoble
  • Bill Bruce
  • Chesapeake
  • Searcher
  • Ascension
  • Enlister
  • McCreery
  • Warsaw
  • Vagabond
  • Gold Mine 

Instead of starting gates, the horses lined up and waited for the flag to be dropped. Once it was dropped, the horses took off. 

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In the 1875 race, Volcano took the lead, but Chesapeake broke last. At the half-mile pole, McCreery was in the front, but Aristides eventually won. He set a new track record at 2:37 3/4. Aristides was only 15 hands and was called the “Little Red Hoss.”
Drawing of Aristides

A statue was made to honor Aristides. He won $2850 for his owner, H.P McGrath. I couldn’t find any info about what happened to Aristides, but he’ll always be a part of history for being the first Kentucky Derby Winner.

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