Horse Racing Tournaments: Kentucky Derby

By Author: Cheyanne Cooke
Total Articles: 381
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Kentucky has a very unique and special history of horse racing. It dates all the way back to the late eighteenth century when Lexington got its very first race course. From that time in 1789 to 1875 when the Churchill Downs first officially opened, there were races held in different courses throughout the country. Once the Churchill Downs opened, it became the home of the Kentucky Derby and has been most widely known as that.

To give a little history on the Churchill Downs is to go back to 1872 when Col. M Lewis Clark created a Louisville Jockey Club to hold racing meets. Clark then went on to visit a number of other racing leaders in Europe and learn from the best. When he returned to America he began the development of a new Kentucky racetrack to house the best horses in the breeding industry. This new track would become known as the Churchill Downs by 1883 when a news article posted an excerpt about the track. The name stuck and was finally incorporated into the Churchill Downs name in 1937.

The first time that the track was publicly established was in May of 1874 and it was posted in the edition of the ...
... Courier-Journal. The construction of the truck was debated by a few different organizations but it was finally funded and construction was started. Clark rose over $30,000 dollar by selling membership subscriptions. He sold the subscriptions at $100 a pop and leased over 80 acres of land. The whole track, when it was completed, had a clubhouse, porter's lodge, grandstand, and a number of different stables that all were complete for the opening race of the track.

Clark designed three different major races, the Clark Handicap, the Kentucky Oaks, and the Kentucky Derby. This mimicked the three main races in England and was thought to bring prestige and class to the US version of it. Ever since the Kentucky Derby, Clark Handicap, and Kentucky Oaks debuted in 1875, they have continued to be held at the Churchill Downs.

Over the course of the years some of the best horses and jockeys have raced on the Churchill Downs and it has become one of the most prestigious racing venues in all of horse racing. There have been a lot of different renovations over the years, the biggest and most recent in 2002. The track went through a $121 million renovation. This phase of the renovation would include large new balconies, an updated grandstand with meeting areas and suites. This phase was finished by 2003 and the second phase expanded the Turf Club and added even more boxes, seats and suites. The whole renovation added 404,000 square feet to the stadium and increased seating by over 50,000.

The Churchill Downs racetrack continues to be one of the best tracks on the horse racing circuit will continue to showcase some of the best horses in the world. It has had a long history of incredible races, and will continue to add to that history as time goes on.

AUTHOR:-
Cheyanne Cooke writes reviews on various sporting events including the Online sportsbook. In this piece of write up she highlights one of the most celebrated horse racing. She takes the readers thought on how to bet on horse racing.