The gates at the iconic Kentucky Derby will officially open May 4th | The Excerpt

On a special episode (first released on May 2, 2024) of The Excerpt podcast: In 2 short days, we are officially off to the races. The gates at the iconic Kentucky Derby will officially open May 4th, marking its 150th anniversary. This storied American tradition features horses with braided tails, jockeys in silk shirts, festive ladies’ hats and the signature mint julep at the historic Churchill Downs racetrack. The annual ‘Run for the Roses’ race is the longest continually held sporting event in North America. Last year, the race was mired in controversy after several horses died in the preceding weeks. Will this year’s race be less contentious, more exciting? What will we all be talking about come Saturday? Courier Journal Sports Reporter Jason Frakes and Lifestyle Reporter Kirby Adams join The Excerpt to dig into all of it.

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Hit play on the player below to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Dana Taylor:

Hello and welcome to The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Thursday, May 2nd, 2024, and this is a special episode of The Excerpt. In two short days, we are officially off to the races. The gates at the iconic Kentucky Derby will officially open May 4th, marking its 150th anniversary. The storied American tradition features horses with braided tails, jockeys in silk shirts, festive ladies hats, and the signature mint julep at the historic Churchill Downs Racetrack. The annual run for the Roses race is the longest, continually held sporting event in North America.

Last year, the race was mired in controversy after several horses died in the preceding weeks. Will this year's race be less contentious, more exciting? What will we all be talking about come Saturday? Courier Journal, sports reporter, Jason Frakes and lifestyle reporter Kirby Adams now join us to dig into all of it. Thanks for joining me, Jason and Kirby.

Jason Frakes:

Thanks for having us.

Kirby Adams:

Thank you. Happy Derby.

Dana Taylor:

Okay, let's get right to it Jason, you've been covering the Derby now for 18 years. Last year's race had a huge cloud hanging over it with 12 horse fatalities in the days and weeks leading up to the race. That kicked off an investigation as to whether something about the track at Churchill Downs was to blame. What did they find and are we anticipating a similar situation this year?

Jason Frakes:

Well, they're certainly hoping not to have a similar situation this year. They did investigate and they determined that there was no single factor that they identified as a potential cause. There was no discernible pattern detected to length the fatalities. Churchill Downs made the unprecedented decision to actually close the track so they are trying some different things. The surface has changed a little bit. It's gone down to every detail as far as checking for rocks and things like that, anything that could lead to any sort of incident. So they're doing their best, but they will be holding their breath this year as far as knowing that the spotlight is back on them.

Dana Taylor:

Jason, what do you see as the predominant themes in this year's race?

Jason Frakes:

Well, obviously it's the 150th Kentucky Derby, started back in 1875, so that's a huge moment for this event. It's a huge moment for the city and the state of Kentucky. The spotlight is going to be on them. Then one of the big storylines, if you will, Bob Baffert, who's won this race six times, tied for the record for the most by any trainer. He's not in the race for the third straight year. He is been suspended by Churchill Downs since Medina Spirit crossed the finish line first in 2021 was later disqualified for failing a drug test. That's been a big controversy. There were some lawsuits this year trying to get one of his horses into the race and the Kentucky Court of Appeals ultimately struck that down. So there will be no Bob Baffert in this race for the third straight year.

Dana Taylor:

Staying with you, Jason, the most exciting two minutes in sports, as they say, is just a couple of days away now. Can you tell us more about the significance of the 150th year? How will it be different this year than in years past?

Jason Frakes:

It's still going to be a two-minute horse race, so that hasn't changed. There definitely is a little more hype around it, if you will. Every year, a gold trophy is given to the winner. They've added a little bit to that trophy this year to make it a little more special, with it being the 150th derby. They don't really talk about how much the trophy is worth. The Churchill Downs will tell you it's priceless, but if you're just looking at it in its own weight, gold, it weighs about 68 ounces made of 14 carat gold. If you just put that weight in gold, it's about $158,000 right there just with the gold and you add the emeralds and rubies that adorn the trophy, and that really bumps up the price of it.

The other thing, this is the first year that the purse for the race is $5 million. That's up from $3 million since 2019.

Dana Taylor:

Jason, as always, the race is taking place in the city of Louisville where you're based. How many people are you expecting, and what's the overall impact of the event on the economy?

Jason Frakes:

On a perfect day with perfect weather, we could see 160, 170,000 people at Churchill Downs for the Derby. As far as the economic impact, I've seen estimates as much as $400 million on the local economy.

Dana Taylor:

This is a race of course. Jason, let's talk about this year's horses. Which ones are the top picks for insiders and which ones are the fan favorites?

Jason Frakes:

Well, the favor of the draw was Saturday, and they set the morning line for that, and the favorite is Fierceness. He's the five to two favorite, which means if you bet $2, you get $7 back on a $2 win bet. He won the Florida Derby by 13 and a half links, which is an incredible margin. He is, without a doubt, the fastest horse in the race.

The second favorite, his name is Sierra Leone. He's three to one in the morning line. He's the second choice trained by Chad Brown. Now this guy, this horse has all the pedigree. He was sold for $2.3 million as a yearling. He's the most expensive horse in the race. The one knock on him is that he's a late runner. He's going to be really far back early and he's going to have to pass 18 or 19 horses when he is coming for home.

Dana Taylor:

This year, as in the recent past, the Derby precedes the other two races in a Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes, and the Belmont Stakes. The last time a horse won the Triple Crown was six years ago. Do we have any viable contenders for the Crown in this year's Derby?

Jason Frakes:

We talked about Fierceness, and I think he's the best three-year-old in the country right now. The one knock on him is he's raced five times in his career. He won. He lost. He won. He lost. He won. So following that pattern, it looks like he's set up for a loss in this race, but he definitely has the talent to do it. I think Sierra Leone has the talent to do it. One thing about the Triple Crown this year you're talking about, as we mentioned, Bob Baffert will not be in the Kentucky Derby, so he has a couple of horses who are really good. He's waiting to enter in the Preakness, so whoever wins the Kentucky Derby will be facing some new blood in the Preakness, in a couple of really good Bob Baffert-trained horses. So that could really make it difficult to see a Triple Crown winner this year.

Dana Taylor:

Kirby, you've been covering all things Derby beyond Churchill Downs for over 20 years now. This is the first year there is an official style guide. What are this year's hot fashion trends?

Kirby Adams:

Every year at the Kentucky Derby is a big fashion show. It's a horse race and it's a fashion show and this has been going on since 1875. In the very first Kentucky Derby, people were encouraged to come to the racetrack and be dressed to the nines. Even in the sixties and seventies when hats fell out of fashion for everyday wear, people kept wearing them to the Kentucky Derby.

Dana Taylor:

What are some of the other things that happen off the racetrack that are part of the cultural fabric of this event?

Kirby Adams:

It's like the whole city downtown has turned into Derby Central. We also have something called the Kentucky Derby Festival, which starts two weeks ahead of the Kentucky Derby. And the festival was really created back in the sixties as a way for the whole community to be involved, even if you weren't going to the racetrack. So we have parades, we have balloon races, we have a running race, which I just took part in on Saturday. There was a half marathon and a full marathon, and thousands of people show up for that from all over the country. There's spelling bees. The Courier Journal started a spelling bee one year. There's bed races, believe it or not, that people build these weird contraptions and race them around, inside of Freedom Hall, which is an indoor arena. So there's something for everybody. Outdoor concerts and chow wagons. There's even a great big, very impressive, steamboat race that happens the week of the Kentucky Derby where two large antique steamboats race each other down the Ohio River. So it's lots of fun, lots going on. It's hard to do it all so you pick your favorites.

Dana Taylor:

Kirby, the Derby, like many prestigious events, has a red carpet. What big names are we expecting to see this year?

Kirby Adams:

Well, I'm glad you asked because I've been digging that up for a couple of weeks. It's always a big secret, and then slowly but surely, you start to hear, and Jason's even been filling me in on some of the people that I didn't know about. But we have celebrity galas the night before the Kentucky Derby and Kentucky Oaks is run on Friday, and then that night is called Derby Eve. So some of the big Derby Eve galas include the Barn Stable Brown Gala, which has been going on for 35 years. It's rated by Condé Nast as one of the 10 best parties in the world. It's held in Patricia Barnstable Brown's private home. It's like three miles from my house. So it's in a neighborhood. It's a big beautiful home though. She'll have Cole Hauser from Yellowstone there. Jack Harlow, who is a rapper who is from Louisville. Kid Rock will be there, Winona Judd, Aaron Rodgers. He has a whole posse of his football buddies coming along. They're going to be trading in their helmets and their shoulder pads for really beautiful suits.

There's another big party that's put on by the Bridgman family. It's called the Trifecta. This will be the last year for that. But Bruno Mars is performing at that. Chris Tucker will be there, and also a DJ ECLASS will be there, among others. And then there's another large celebrity gala called Unbridled Eve. And we know that Richie Sambora will be there from Bon Jovi, Mike Mills from REM. And there's always a group that comes year after year to that party like Warren Moon and just a bunch of people who find that that's their favorite party. So that's going on all over the place. Then Jason told me that Travis Kelsey will be here. Is that perhaps?

Jason Frakes:

Not confirmed, but I have been hearing that. Yes.

Kirby Adams:

Well, I was told by somebody also that he's bringing him in as his personal guest. So we're all wondering if that means Taylor Swift is going to show up as well. You just never know who's going to come up for the Kentucky Derby.

Dana Taylor:

Kirby, I hear the signature Derby drink, the Mint Julep, is possibly being overtaken by a newcomer to the race this year. Tell me about that.

Kirby Adams:

Oh, I'm so glad you asked that question. So I was with the master distiller from Woodford Reserve, and Woodford Reserve is the official bourbon of the Kentucky Derby. Her name is Elizabeth McCall, and she was telling me that last year the Woodford Reserve Spire almost overtook the Kentucky Derby favorite, which is the Mint Julep. The Mint Julep has been consumed at the Kentucky Derby since probably 1875. The Woodford Spire is made with lemonade, cranberry juice, mint and bourbon, and both of them have lots and lots of ice. So that just sounds a little more refreshing, and I think if the rain stays away at the track on Saturday, then maybe that Woodford Spire will be the drink to consume. But responsibly.

Dana Taylor:

What are you most looking forward to at this year's Derby Kirby?

Kirby Adams:

It's fun for me to be working the red carpet and talking to the celebrities that come in, and particularly those who come in year after year, because a lot of them make it just an annual event and they're happy to be back. It's not like they're walking the red carpet at the Oscars. They really let their hair down and have a lot of fun. I'm also looking forward to actually putting some money down on a horse that might win this year because I've been so busy in the past few years that I haven't paid enough attention. So I really was making notes when Jason was talking.

Dana Taylor:

May 4th is the big day for the Kentucky Derby. Thank you both so much, Jason and Kirby for joining me on The Excerpt.

Jason Frakes:

Thanks for having us.

Kirby Adams:

Thank you.

Dana Taylor:

Thanks to our senior producers, Shannon Rae Green, and Bradley Glanzrock for their production assistance. Our executive producer is Laura Beatty. Let us know what you think of this episode by sending a note to [email protected]. Thanks for listening. I'm Dana Taylor. Taylor Wilson will be back tomorrow morning with another episode of The Excerpt.