Horse-racing has been one of the greatest past times in Europe, Australia and the Americas. I guess it was also practiced even in my own country Sierra Leone in West Africa back in the colonial days at a race course at the east of its city, Freetown. Thus the name 'racecourse' has been retained to mark both the cemetery and the road leading to and passing through the country's world renowned natural harbor, Queen Elizabeth 11 Quay popularly known as Deep Water Quay. However those days are gone. Now with few horse owners remaining, their horses are reserved mostly for occasional and casual rides and not for sports.
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So when I was to make a trip to the southern part of the USA specifically, Louisville in Kentucky State, I was exhilarated to learn that horse-racing is a great pastime there where it is attracting millions of fans from all corners of the globe. I had the hope of being transformed in the process of visiting and watching it into an enthusiast myself.
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Churchill Downs at the heart of central Louisville in Kentucky is the oldest continuously operated racetrack in the United States of America. As a prelude to the cherished and sought Kentucky Derby which recently had its 133rd race witnessed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth 11, the Kentucky Oaks featuring the top in racing compete at Churchill Downs in this also famed and classic race. First won by Vinaigrette in 1875 it stands alone as one of racing's premier events for three-year-old fillies growing in stature among fans and horsemen to becoming now the most esteemed race in the division. The 2008 Kentucky Derby, its 134th running, took place on May 3, 2008 with 157,770 in attendance, the second largest in Derby history. Big Brown won the race by nearly 5 lengths. Eight Belles, the second place finisher and the first filly to run the Derby in nine years, was euthanized at the end of the race after fracturing both front ankles while galloping out, believed to be the first fatality in Kentucky Derby history
On every first Saturday in May, the sports world's spotlight shines on Churchill Downs, the home of the Kentucky Derby. The unique combination of history, racing legends and future stars makes the Kentucky Derby the Greatest Two Minutes in Sports, if not perhaps the greatest horse race in the world. Each year, the mile and a quarter 'Run for the Roses' attract the finest three year old Thoroughbreds in North America. First won by Aristides in 1875, the Kentucky Derby has become the oldest continuously held sporting event in the U.S.A and the first jewel of the Triple Crown. Together with the Kentucky Oaks, the premier filly race that runs the day before, it draws more than 290,000 race fans annually.
Churchill Downs and its fabled Twin Spires are worldwide symbols of the horse racing tradition and pride. Throughout the world, the Twin Spires are a recognized landmark that has become symbolic to Churchill Downs and "the greatest two minutes in sports", the Kentucky Derby. Constructed in 1895, the Spires, the creation of a twenty-four-year-old draftsman, Joseph Dominic Baldez, who when asked to draw the plans for Churchill Downs' new Grandstand, did not include the Spires in the original plan, but as he continued working on his design, felt the structure needed something to give it a striking appearance. Described as towers in the original drawing, the hexagonal spires exemplify late nineteenth century architecture, in which symmetry and balance took precedence over function. Although Baldez designed many other structures in Louisville, the Twin Spires remain an everlasting monument to him.
The Kentucky Derby's historic racetrack is now one of the most hallowed shrines in American sport. Since its founding in 1874, it has hosted the nation's top Thoroughbreds in competition for some of the sport's largest awards, including the million Breeders' Cup which it had retained for a record six times.
It is amazing to witness its rapid transformation from being just a sport, to becoming a myriad of other activities all attracting public as well as international attention. A multitude of drinking, eating and betting spots in all sections of the complex divert the minds of millions of visitors. And around the vicinity are a whole network of clubs and other entertainment spots catering to different tastes. But for me, the most significant achievement is its creation of a vast museum showcasing the growth and development of this exciting sport with close attention given to every little, but fascinating, detail. By so doing it is expanding public awareness, appreciation and understanding of the Kentucky Derby and Thoroughbred racing from the past to the present for the edification of a fun-loving world. The Kentucky Derby Museum located at the first gate of Churchill Downs features temporary exhibits, a research library, educational programs for all ages, the Finish Line Gift Shop where Derby and Thoroughbred memorabilia and historical books are offered for sale and the Derby Café in two floors of exciting exhibits.
The starting gate at Churchill Downs leads us into an atmosphere of radiant sights, compelling sounds and the alluring color of the Kentucky Derby brought out in greater splendor by the whole range of interactive exhibits in the two- floored museum. The excitement of fast, racing hooves thrills us as we watch 'The Greatest Race' on a 360 degree high-definition video screen, whilst sitting on the floor or on a stool in the Great Hall, swiveling round to keep pace with the revolving direction from which the sound and sights are moving. It is almost like theatre-in-the-round except that here the audience is in the middle and the action starts from one point of the circle, moving round and suddenly spreading all around with the volume and thunder of rapidly advancing hooves expanding and intensifying as it does so, showing Derby races from 1918 to the present. It for instance keeps exploring the birth of a foal, onto its maturing into a race winning-horse. A time line on the exterior walls of the Great Hall displays the results of every Kentucky Derby and local and national events for each year since its inception.
Here within the first floor of the museum we spent much time listening and watching some of the best horse owners and trainers share Derby stories and jockeys reliving the best of their Derby moments. I had the pleasurable experience, like many other visitors to mount a dummy horse, and learn to ride like a jockey on a 'Riders Up' exhibit.
A replica of Churchill Downs' Winners' Circle features the current Kentucky Derby winning horse jockey and the Garland of Roses flanked by the museum's entire collection of Kentucky Derby trophies.
At the second section of the museum we saw much of what makes a Thoroughbred. This involves a demonstration of its physical power, its life in training and the personal histories of several Kentucky Derby horses. The various exhibits explain a Thoroughbred's conformation, motion, speed and track conditions. The Winner's Pyramid shows how long the odds are for the owners, trainers and jockeys to move a Thoroughbred from birth to the Winner's Circle through a combination of photographs, graphics and audio narration.
The life of a jockey and his importance as the horse's team mate are documented and showcased in the third section of the museum with exhibits including jockey rooms, saddles, scales and equipment. 'The Jockey Experience' presents a photographic promenade of significant Kentucky Derby jockeys, illustrating their ethnic diversity. Kentucky Derby Hall of Champions' highlights the 'best-of -the-best' owners, breeders, trainers and jockeys who have won three or more Kentucky Derby races and the horses which have won the Triple Crown. Tribute is paid to the important role of African-Americans including the greatest jockey of all times, Isaac Murphy in Thoroughbred racing. There is for instance a permanent exhibit featuring African Americans in Thoroughbred Racing. Interactive exhibits include a "Place Your Bets" exhibit that illustrates pari-mutuel wagering and the "Warner L. Jones, Jr. Time Machine", giving us the rare pleasure of selecting footage of Derbys as far back as 1918. Recent renovations have made it possible to bring more of the sights and sounds of the track to the facility, affording visitors like us the luxury to participate in more "hands-on" activities. One can even be a jockey and ride in a race.
Much attention is given to African-American jockeys who played a vital role in shaping early American horse-racing, as well as the Kentucky Derby. For the history of the Kentucky Derby and African-American horsemen are seen as intertwined. The Derby and Churchill Downs owe a great deal to the men who helped shape America's greatest race. Thirteen of the 15 riders in the first Derby were African-American, while African-American reins men won 15 of the Derby's first 28 runnings.
Isaac Murphy is just one of many. He is considered the greatest race rider in American history. He was the first jockey to win the Derby on three occasions and on consecutive runnings. He remains the only jockey to win the Derby, Oaks and Clark Handicap in the same year, 1884. He won 44 percent of all the races he rode. Born in 1860 on David Tanner's Pleasant Green Hill Farm in Fayette County, Kentucky, his father enlisted in the Union Army during the Civil War and died as a prisoner of war at Camp Nelson along the Kentucky River. His mother moved to Lexington where the family lived with her father Green Murphy. Murphy, 35, died of pneumonia February 12, 1896. On June 25, 1980, he was among the 11 African-American jockeys who rode a total of 15 Derby winners between 1875 and 1902, who were honored by the NAACP and the Lincoln Foundation. A plaque commemorating this is now in the Kentucky Derby Museum's collection
Women who also played an active role in the history of the Kentucky Derby are also recognized and given pride of place here. In 1904, Mrs. Laska Durnell nominated her horse Elwood to the Kentucky Derby, without informing her husband, trainer Charles Durnell. The decision paid off well as Elwood won as the longest price in the field of five. Elwood was the first starter and winner owned by a woman, and also the first winner bred by a woman. By the 1940s, women owners in the Derby were almost commonplace. In 1942, seven of the first eight finishers in the Kentucky Derby were owned by women. A total of 12 women trainers have sent 13 starters postward in the Kentucky Derby. To date, five women Diane Crump, Patti Cooksey, Andrea Seefeldt, Julie Krone, and Rosemary Homeister have ridden in the famed "Run for the Roses".
We had the opportunity of being led to the actual Finish Line pole used at Churchill Down for many years, as well as the grave sites of three famous Kentucky Derby winners, Carry Back (1961), Swaps (1955) and Brokers Tip (1933) which are located outside on the museum grounds. I happened to have been shown a rather impressive grave of a favored horse that lived for quite a long time with much accomplishments on the track and was as a result given this rare human-like honor.
We, like millions of other visitors from all over the world, apart from viewing the wide range of exhibits in the museum and the gift shop, took guided walking tours of Churchill Downs and the Museum's paddock area. We thus felt like being enrolled in the unfolding history of a world-wide phenomenon, and as a memento I was given a model horse-shoe a gesture which I greatly cherished and has got pride of place in my living room but which I still hope someday to donate to our museum in Sierra Leone.
The Greatest Craze For Millions - Horse-Racing and the Kentucky Derby
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