Date: May 05, 12
Post:
Purse: $2,000,000
Grade: I
Type: Thoroughbred
Distance: 1 1/4 Miles
Age: 3 Year Olds
Sex: Both
Turf: Dirt

Notes
The Kentucky Derby is an American horse racing event that is run at a distance of ten furlongs on the dirt track of Churchill Downs racetrack. This grade I racing event is open to three year old thoroughbred horses. The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports” for the approximate duration of this race. It is also called “The Run for the Roses” as a blanket of roses is draped over the winner. The Kentucky Derby is the first leg of the American Triple Crown for thoroughbred horses in the United States. In the initial years, the Kentucky Derby was run at a distance of one and half miles but it was changed to one and one fourth miles from 1896. The Kentucky Derby was set in motion on May 17, 1875, in front of ten thousand highly enthusiastic crowds. Though the first race was a grand success, the racing event went through some financial difficulties afterwards. Between 1875 and 1902, an afro-American jockey – Alonzo Clayton won the derby at 15 and set a record of winning this event as the youngest rider. The first national television coverage of the Kentucky Derby took place on May 3, 1952. Triple Crown winner Secretariat clocked the record time that has remained unbroken for the last thirty-five years. In 2004, the court passed a writ through which jockeys were allowed to wear advertising logos on their clothing. The system of distributing the purse was changed in 2005 - through which the horses finishing fifth would also receive a share of the purse. The well-known designer, Norman Adams, has been designing logo of the Kentucky Derby since 2002.