Fans sent scurrying by wettest Run for Roses
A steady stream of people headed for the exits at Churchill Downs about two hours before the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby, won by the favored Justify.
The rain that started early continued unabated and poured harder as the day wore on. Swaths of the grandstand’s uncovered seats that sell for hundreds each were empty as Derby-goers opted instead to cram under awnings and overhangs to try to stay out of the rain.
Otis Miller joined the stream of those who had enough and decided to leave. He and his friend, William Smith, were visiting from Cincinnati for their first Derby in the infield, where there is little shelter. Both were sopping wet by the time they threw in the towel.
Miller gestured to his bright yellow suit, soaked under a flimsy poncho.
“I tried to bring the sun out on a rainy day with my yellow suit,” he said, “but Mother Nature won that battle.” On the track, the mud was flying, leaving jockeys’ silks and faces coated in dirt and their horses covered in filth.
Riders in races before the Derby wore multiple pairs of goggles during races so they could pull a clean pair down whenever their current set gets dirty.
Jockey Brian Hernandez said the track surface was in good condition despite being listed as sloppy. He had just won the $300,000 Pat Day Mile aboard 39-1 shot Funny Duck.
Earlier on Saturday, the National Weather Service had issued a flashflood warning for Louisville until 6:30 p.m., about 15 minutes before the Derby was scheduled to go off.
Meanwhile, a human traffic jam formed in the underground tunnels leading to and from the infield as drenched attendees sought shelter from the unrelenting rain.
Lacy Nelson glanced behind her as she tried to navigate the nearly impassible tunnel and saw thousands more people pressing in behind her.
“Oh my god, we’re like cattle,” she exclaimed. “Look at everybody.”
Nelson and her friend, Mary Rolfe, traveled from Minnesota to their first Derby, and said the rain was such a bummer they said they would have left if they hadn’t spent $80 on their infield tickets. The daylong downpour created ankle-deep puddles in the infield and chairs sank into the mud.
“It’s awful,” Rolfe said. “I want to come back to the Derby when it’s nice so I can really enjoy it.”
Phones binged with an emergency flash-flood warning and many crammed into the tunnels around them groaned.
Women traded heels for galoshes and wore ponchos over their dresses. Some in the infield constructed elab- orate tents out of tarps to try to stay dry and avoid the forming mud puddles. The weather for some was a disappointing twist after forecasters had for a week been promising perfect weather on Derby Day. It had been sunny and warm leading up to Saturday with temps in the 80s.
Amanda Phillips and Sarah Hoffman bought their mother infield tickets for Christmas, and the trio traveled from Orlando. They’d had their outfits meticulously planned for their first Derby but eyed the sky Saturday morning, scrapped their dresses and made a last minute run to the store for ponchos and rain boots.
“We don’t mind a little rain, we adapted,” Phillips said, as they stood under an overhang at a wagering window to try to stay out of the rain. “Our hair looked great like two hours ago.”