Sports and Betting

There are few if any American sporting institutions that can rival the pomp and circumstance of the Kentucky Derby, and of course the Derby is run beneath the stately twin spires of Churchill Downs in the bluegrass country of Louisville, Kentucky. Nothing can duplicate the experience of sipping on a mint julep in Louisville on the first Saturday in May, and it takes a poetic voice to truly describe the depth and breadth of what the Kentucky Derby really means to the American psyche.

We are joined together as a nation by a shared experience of the times that we traverse together, and a bonding takes place between us all on some level through this mutual set of experiences. Some of these collective times are joyous, others sad, but in the end, they all bring us closer together. The Kentucky Derby seems to provide a reminder of this bond that we share, and perhaps the date of the race, the first Saturday in May, helps to lend a certain sense of renewal that is meaningful and important to us as a culture.

To trace the history of the Run for the Roses you have to go back to 1875, which is the year that Churchill Downs opened–the first Derby was run in that inaugural year, and that long standing history is part of the allure of the event. There are spring and fall meetings run at Churchill Downs, and in addition to the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs plays host to the Grade 1 Humana Distaff Handicap, the Kentucky Oaks, the Stephen Foster Handicap, and the Woodford Reserve Turf Classic Stakes.

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