FLASHBACK FRIDAY: The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports

There are few traditions as recognizable to Kentucky than the most exciting two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby.

The event, which has become much more than just a race, has its own fashion, customs and culinary traditions as profound as the big hats and mint juleps that are commonly associated with the event.

Here are some facts about the history of the Kentucky Derby:

The race is tied directly to the great American expeditionary, William Clark, via his grandson Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, who formed the Louisville Jockey Club and acquired land for a racetrack from his uncles John an Henry Churchill in 1874. 

The first Kentucky Derby race was May 17, 1875. There were approximately 10,000 people watching.

Churchill Downs was named in 1883.

1889 – Bookmakers demand that Colonel Clark remove pari-mutuel betting machines, because they are cutting into the bookmakers profits. Spokane wins the Derby.

1894 – Due to the growing crowd size, a 285-foot grandstand is constructed to accommodate race fans. Chant wins the Derby.

1895 – The famed Twin Spires greet the Kentucky Derby crowd, on May 6. Halma wins the Derby.

1896 – It is thought that the distance of the Derby race is too long for 3-year-old Thoroughbreds that early in the spring, so the distance of the Derby race is shortened from one and a half miles to one and a quarter miles. Ben Brush wins the Derby, and he receives a floral arrangement of white and pink roses.

1899 — Founder of the Kentucky Derby, Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark, commits suicide, a dozen days before the 25th running of the Kentucky Derby.

1904 — The rose becomes the official Derby flower. 

1914 — A horse named Old Rosebud wins the Derby setting the new record time of 2:03:04.

1931 — The Kentucky Derby is permanently scheduled for the first Saturday in May, as opposed to an undetermined date in mid-May. 

1971 — The first female jockey to participate in the Derby is Diane Crump.

1985 — The Kentucky Derby Museum is opened, and in 1986 the  Churchill Downs Racetrack was placed on the register of National Historic Landmarks. 

2006 — One of the most famed Derby winners, Barbaro, wins the Kentucky Derby, by six and a half lengths, which was the largest victory since 1946. The horse died a week later, but was never forgotten by fans.

–Jennifer Moonsong for GlasgowNews1 in partnership with Glasgow-Barren County Tourism. Information for this article was gathered on kentuckyderby.com