Did You Know: Even more Kentucky Derby Facts

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - In 2024 The Run for the Roses celebrates 150 years. There is a lot of history behind the race and down every hall, in every room and even in each cup at Churchill Downs.

“The oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States,” explains Darren Rogers Senior Director of Communications & Media Services

He knows the history, the horses, and thousands of the media broadcasting on that first Saturday in May.

Did you know WAVE-TV broadcast the first television coverage of the Kentucky Derby On May 7, 1949?

“The Kentucky Derby dates back to 1975,” boasts Rogers. “We’ve never had to cancel a race.”

It has been moved but never canceled.

Due to World War II in 1945, it moved from May to June. In 2020 Covid-19 could not stop the race but it did move it to September and no fans were in the stands.

Chris Goodlet, the Derby Museum Historian and Curatorial Director says it’s not always been the first Saturday in May.

“Prior to 1932, although the race was run mostly on Saturdays, the Derby’s been run on every day of the week with the exception of Sunday,” explained Goodlet.

Did you know the first Kentucky Derby was a mile and a half to win, in a field of 15 horses, in front of a crowd of 10,000 spectators?

“Oliver Lewis was the winner of the first Kentucky Derby,” explained Rogers. “Thirteen of 15 jockeys in the first derby were Black. Fifteen of the first 28 that won the Kentucky Derby were Black. That was before the Jim Crow laws came into effect.”

Did you know there is a jockey with 27 mounts in the Kentucky Derby?

“Gotta be Mike Smith,” laughed Rogers. “Mike Smith of course has won the Kentucky Derby twice. He won it aboard Giacomo, the big longshot and then the rider of the Triple Crown winner Justify back in 2018.”

Did you know Justify’s Derby win came on a record-breaking day at Churchill Downs?

“People want to know dry derby or rainy derby,” explained Rogers. “Wettest Derby on record was 2018 when Justify won the Derby on his way to a Triple Crown.”

According to the national weather service 3.15 inches of rain fell that Derby Day.

Did you know a few back-to-back record-breaking events are said to have placed Kentucky’s Churchill Downs in the spotlight and the Derby on the world map?

“(In) 1913 you had the biggest long shot in Donerail 19-1,” shared Rogers. “The following year you had Old Rosebud win by a record eight lengths. In 1915, you had the first filly win the Derby in Regret. Those three Derbies are really what made the Kentucky Derby what it is today. That magical horse race that every horseman aspires to win.”

For more fun horse racing history and Derby trivia you can visit the Derby Museum or click this link for fun facts and a schedule of events and exhibits.

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