A Kentucky Derby Timeline

For those of us with an active Facebook account, we are all aware of Timeline. Most of my Facebook friends have either verbally stated to me or have posted on the social networking site about their displeasure with the new look home page. As for me, I have yet to switch over. I’m happily still using the original home page look. In a nutshell, Facebook Timeline is a neatly organized social scrapbook. How does this tie into the Kentucky Derby you ask?  After all, it is Derby week in America. Just like we all have important events in our lives that standout, so too does the Kentucky Derby. This blog edition takes a look at some signature events that have transpired over the last 137 years. Consider this if you will, a Trackside text scrapbook about the “Run for the Roses."

January 1^st, 1872—Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., grandson of William Clark of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, begins working on the idea of the Kentucky Derby after witnessing the Epsom Derby in England.

May 17^th, 1875—Jockey Oliver Lewis rides a colt named Aristides to victory in the first Kentucky Derby in front of 10,000 people. The distance was 1 ½ miles, but later was changed to  the current 1 ¼ miles.

May 11^th, 1892—15-year old African-American jockey Alonzo “Lonnie” Clayton becomes the youngest jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.

May 2^nd, 1904—Elwood becomes the first Derby starter to be owned by a woman, Laska  Durnell.

May 10^th, 1913—At $92.40 to 1, Donerail becomes the longest shot ever to win the Kentucky Derby.

May 8^th, 1915—Regret becomes the first filly to win the Derby. Only three fillies total have won the race.

May 12^th, 1917—English-bred colt Omar Khayyam wins the Derby, becoming the first foreign-bred horse to win.

May 10^th, 1919—Sir Barton becomes the first horse to win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and  Belmont Stakes.

May 17^th, 1930—Sportswriter Charles Hatton coins the term “Triple Crown” to denote the winner of the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont after Gallant Fox becomes the second horse to win all three races.

May 7^th, 1932—The Derby is moved to the first Saturday in May to create a specific schedule for Triple Crown races.

May 3^rd, 1952—The Derby is shown on national television for the first time.

May 4^th, 1968—Dancer’s Image becomes the first and only Derby winner to be disqualified, after phenylbutazone, an analgesic and anti-inflammatory drug, is discovered  during post-race urinalysis.

May 5^th, 1973—Secretariat runs the fastest Derby ever (at 1 ¼ miles) at I minute, 59 2/5 seconds. The horse, widely considered the greatest ever, actually ran each successive quarter of the race faster than the previous one, and went on to win the Triple Crown.

May 4^th, 1974—The Derby’s largest crowd ever: 163,628 sees Cannonade win.

May 6^th, 1978—Just days after his 18^th birthday, jockey phenom Steve Cauthen wins the Derby aboard Affirmed and goes on to become the youngest  jockey ever to win the Triple Crown.

May 3^rd, 2008—Eight Belles finishes second but breaks both ankles and is euthanized on the track, the first time in Derby history a horse has died at the race.

May 1^st, 2010—Calvin Borel wins aboard Super Saver for his third Derby win in four years and giving trainer Todd Pletcher his first Derby win after missing with 24 previous horses.

With this year’s 138^th “Run for the Roses” just a few days away, will we witness another historical event that will be added and forever etched into the Kentucky Derby Timeline?