Derby day sets soggy history
At least one record was broken at the 144th Run for the Roses — and not one anyone will be celebrating.
The National Weather Service declared it the wettest Kentucky Derby on record, and the rain was still coming down as the race went off.
A flash flood warning was issued for areas around Churchill Downs. The (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported that the rainfall Saturday edged out the previous Derby record of 2.31 inches, which held for nearly a century since May 11, 1918. The weather service also said it was the wettest May 5 in Louisville history.
The track surface was downgraded to sloppy about four hours before the Derby. The surface was listed as fast to begin the racing card, then went to muddy and then sloppy.
Jockeys were finishing races with their silks and faces coated in mud. Riders wore multiple pairs of goggles during races, so they could pull a clean pair down whenever their current set got covered.
Jockey Brian Hernandez said the track surface was in good condition after winning the $300,000 Pat Day Mile aboard a 39-1 shot appropriately named Funny Duck.
Fans sought shelter under any overhang they could find, while donning plastic ponchos over their outfits and hats. Human traffic jams formed in the underground tunnels leading to and from the infield, as drenched Derby-goers sought shelter. Soggy spectators crowded under trees and awnings in the infield. Chairs sank into the mud.
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.”
Asmussen reaches training milestone
Steve Asmussen earned his 8,000th career victory on Kentucky Derby day. The 52-year-old trainer saddled Lookin At Lee to a 2 1/4-length win in the third race at Churchill Downs.
Asmussen is second to the late Dale Baird in career wins among trainers. Baird notched 9,445 over 46 years.
A year ago, Lookin At Lee finished second in the Derby to Always Dreaming.
Asmussen saddled huge longshot Combatant in Saturday’s Derby.