Kentucky Derby, French Open tennis pushing events back until September
Change does not come easily to the Kentucky Derby.
Fans sip mint juleps, don fancy hats and dress clothes and sing to the melancholy strains of "My Old Kentucky Home" as the thoroughbreds step onto the track on the first Saturday in May. It has always made the Derby as much a piece of Americana as a horse race.
The country's longest continuously held sports event thrives on this tradition, especially its date on the calendar. That changed Tuesday. Churchill Downs postponed the Derby until September, the latest rite of spring in sports to be struck by the new coronavirus along with the Masters, March Madness and baseball season. Instead of May 2, the race will be run Sept. 5, kicking off Labor Day weekend.
"It's good that they didn't cancel it," said Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert, who has several top contenders that could earn him a record-tying sixth Derby victory.
However, Baffert added, "Until they get their arms around this virus, we're all day-to-day."
It's the first time the Derby won't be held on the first Saturday in May since 1945, when it was run June 9. The federal government suspended horse racing nationwide for most of the first half of the year before World War II ended in early May, but not in time to hold the opening leg of the Triple Crown that month.
"We'll roll with the punches," Bill Carstanjen, CEO of Churchill Downs Inc. said during a conference call, "and feel very, very good that September is the right date."
The date change still must be approved by the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission at its meeting Thursday. The date belonged to smaller Ellis Park, which struck a deal with Churchill Downs. Skip Sayre, spokesman for Ellis Entertainment, said both sides agreed to keep the amount of money involved confidential.
"We were more than willing to accommodate," Sayre said. "Our agreement with Churchill keeps us whole from a financial perspective."
Still to be decided are the dates of the next two legs of horse racing's showcase series — the Preakness and Belmont.
Carstanjen said the September date was chosen after talks with NBC Sports, which televises the Triple Crown races, based on the limited number of sports events that weekend and hotel availability in Louisville.
Churchill Downs clearly wasn't interested in running the 146th Derby without fans in the stands, which is what other tracks have been doing, including Santa Anita in California, Oaklawn in Arkansas and the Fair Grounds in Louisiana.
"We feel confident we are going to run the Kentucky Derby and run it with a crowd," Carstanjen said. "It's a participatory event."
The race itself lasts just two minutes, but the partying and socializing goes on throughout Derby week, with celebrity-stuffed charity galas and private house parties. Last year's race drew 150,729 fans. People who pay little attention to horse racing the rest of the year typically watch the Derby and wager on it either formally or in pools set up at parties.
The Derby was first run in 1875 and has gone uninterrupted, even through the Great Depression and World Wars I and II.
In 1943, there were travel restrictions imposed by World War II and no out-of-town tickets were sold. Still, the Derby went on, with Count Fleet winning in front of 65,000. The colt won the Triple Crown that year.
The Kentucky Oaks, the race for fillies held on Derby eve, is also hugely popular, especially among Louisville locals. It first began in 1875. It will be run Sept. 4.