Kids usually struggle to sleep on Dec. 24. The excitement of seeing what Santa (or their parents) left under the tree is just too problematic to get good shut-eye.
That’s what Kentucky Derby Eve is for me. For some reason, I can’t wait until the first Saturday in May gets here. Like a kid on Christmas Eve, I eagerly await Kentucky Derby Day. I have awakened on Derby Day before 5 am, before 6 am and usually before 7:30 am. One year, I got up at 4:50, drove two hours to look at a car in Connecticut and drove home, arriving home before noon; before my daughter woke up.
I know it is just a horse race, albeit the most important in the world, but it represents something more than that. It is a slice of Americana, a term that younger people probably don’t hear or use anymore. There are still plenty of traditions left in America. We just had one with The Masters, but the Kentucky Derby is a bit different.
It’s always the first Saturday in May, it gets very good TV ratings and most Americans have heard of it and many will make it the only horse race they will watch this year. And, as much as Churchill Downs is trying to price out the blue-collar peeps, the in-house crowd will be at least 145,000. Most in the crowd are probably not horse racing fans, but they like big events and the Kentucky Derby remains perhaps the biggest one day event (after the Super Bowl) on the American sports calendar.
Another intrigue is the race process. The race is for 3-year olds and 3-year olds only and while most of the 20 runners are colts or geldings, fillies are welcome to enter should they qualify. It took Rory McIroy more than a decade to win the Masters, but in the Derby, your horse gets one shot at glory. There is no coming back, there is no wait until next year.
Each year, there are thousands of foals born, but only 20 make it to the Derby. You may have a great looking foal in 2025, but in 2028, your horse’s chances of making the Derby starting gate—slim. To get in you have to earn points in designated races in your two and three-year old seasons and because thoroughbreds don’t race often, opportunities to get those points are limited.
The number 20 is one of intrigue. The Derby is the only race that allows that many. The other Triple Crown races—the Preakness and the Belmont–allow just 14, as do the Travers Stakes (Saratoga in August) and the Breeder’s Cup Classic in November. The Kentucky Oaks (the big one for fillies on the Friday before the Derby) also limits its field to 14.
I’m not sure why 20 is allowed and we all know that if there were 14 the race would likely be both better and cleaner, but the Kentucky Derby is the race; it can do what it wants. But for the fan, 20 is great. It gives people more names to ponder, more betting options, and usually better payoffs because with that number, the favorite will not be a short price.
Horse racing has had its share of issues and black-eyes. There’s always a chance that a horse gets hurt and sadly, has to be put down. That’s happened in the Derby before and if it happens again, there will be loud cries to ban the sport and at least one “I want to make a name for myself,” politician that will do most of the barking.
That said, no sport does big days better than horse racing. The Derby Day card will feature nine stakes races, the lowest purse being $600,000. You may not know the horse’s names, but when you have that much available in purses, the best horses, trainers and jockeys will be there and those races are fun to bet and fun to watch.
They also provide a natural and tremendous buildup. When the first stakes race of the day takes place, the buzz is minimal, but as the day moves forward, the buzz becomes palpable. After the race before the Derby ends, the excitement and anticipation can be cut with a knife. I have been to the Travers Stakes several times and the hour (yes, they wait an hour to get as much wagering around the world as possible) between the race before and the big race is surprisingly enjoyable.
The other intrigue is the race itself. Think about this–we wait all day, for some, all year, and in less than 2 minutes and 5 seconds, the race is over. That’s all it takes for these horses to run 1 ¼ miles. But, that fits well for America’s short attention spans. It’s not a three hour affair like the other fantastic one-off at the end of the month–the Indianapolis 500–nor is it a seven game series like those in the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
The Derby comes and it goes and that’s what makes it great and come Saturday, for the 151st time, it will once again capture America’s attention.