As part of its effort to honor Black jockeys and trainers who played a significant role in racing history, particularly during the first 30 years of the Kentucky Derby, Churchill Downs inaugurated a new 6-furlong race for 3-year-olds in 2015 called the William Walker Stakes. Held …
January News: On This Race Day in 1852; and Remembering Louisiana Champion Lecomte
On this day in New Orleans in January 1852, racing was cancelled on account of—snow? Mild winters in New Orleans mean that few days, if any, fall below freezing in a given winter, thus snowfall is a rarity. While 19th-century race days were often rescheduled due to rainfall …
Handy Rules for Laying Out a Race Course
The following “Rules for Laying Out a Race Course” is shared from an 1833 issue of the American Turf Register and Sporting Magazine. Enjoy! …
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It’s Preakness Week! Revisiting Triple Crown Winner Assault’s 1946 Preakness
In honor of Preakness Week, the Times looks back at one of the race’s historic winners from 1946, the improbable Triple Crown hero and “Little Chocolate Galloper,” Assault. In our Kentucky Derby post in May, we shared one of our favorite quotes about his victory in that first …
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The First Kentucky Derby, Unhorsed by the Louisville Cup
It was the first Kentucky Derby, but the race wasn’t the star attraction of the Louisville Jockey Club and Driving Park Association’s six-day inaugural spring meeting in 1875. Opening day on Monday, May 17, 1875, drew more than 12,000 attendees to the new track that would later …
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