Horsing Around

The Derby days are upon us. The longest running sporting event in the U.S., the Kentucky Derby, best known for mint juleps and outrageous hats, takes place on May 6. This year it will be the 149th Run for the Roses. An estimated 155,000 spectators are expected to attend.

Here are a few interesting facts about the world’s most famous horse race: It is run each year on the first Saturday in May at Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Ky. The Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes and the Kentucky Derby make up the Triple Crown.

The field is limited to three-year-old Thoroughbreds and, since 1975, to 20 horses. There’s even a difference in what male and female horses can carry in weight. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds while fillies carry 121 pounds. The winner pockets $1.86 million, the winning jockey gets $186,000 and second place nets $600,000, with the jockey getting just $30,000.

To get to the Kentucky Derby horses must take part in a series of 35 races across the country and the world. Although the race often is referred to as, “the most exciting two minutes in sports,” only two horses have finished it in two minutes or less: Secretariat in 1973 and Monarchos in 2001, both by fractions of a second.

Visit kentuckyderby.com