Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum

From now on, the Kentucky Derby - run the first Saturday in May each year, will take on a special significance for us. Our goal yesterday was to visit Churchill Downs and the Kentucky Derby Museum, then go to Costco and finish up with dinner at a favorite restaurant in Louisville. We did all but the restaurant since we were too full from a nice lunch at the Cafe in Churchill Downs. We spent about 6 hours visiting these 2 landmarks and took over 60 pictures. Following is a snapshot of our visit:

We arrived around 10:30 at Churchill Downs and were immediately impressed with the entrance where a statue of Barbaro greets you at Gate 1 before entering the grounds:

Everybody knows the sad story associated with, perhaps, one of horse racing's best ever horses that broke down in the Preakness in 2006, trying to win the 2nd leg of the Triple Crown - and was ultimately put to sleep in 2007 following a valiant attempt to save his life. He was a huge favorite to win that race after winning the Derby by a large margin.

The Kentucky Derby Museum is directly adjacent and attached to Churchill Downs:

We entered the museum and paid for our tickets which included the Museum and a 1 1/2 hour guided walking tour "Behind the Scenes" at Churchill Downs. That was scheduled for 2 PM, so we had lots of time to leisurely go through the museum. It was, as you would expect, packed full of 137 years of Derby memorabilia and history. From the lobby, you enter the main portion of the museum through - what else - a starting gate:

There were some very interesting displays, including these hats that were donated to the museum:

that were just a small sample of those that are worn each year, a tribute to the most recent winner - Animal Kingdom:

and many more displays of past winners and some of the more famous jockeys. There was an especially good section about Bill Shoemaker, who died in 2003. He was only 4' 11" tall, weighed 95 pounds, and wore a size 1 1/2 shoe - typical of most jockeys.

We saw a film in a small theater with a 360 degree screen that was very impressive and made you feel like you were standing in the middle of the track infield on race day. Following our visit in the museum, we went through the nice gift shop:

and then into the cafe that was part of the museum and had lunch.

The Tour was the highlight of the day and included the Jockeys' Quarters:

(where there was this shot of the 1933 race that was called the "Fighting Finish". There were no finish line cameras like there are today, and the jockeys were literally fighting to win the race at the finish:)

the very beautiful Paddock area:

Millionaire's Row, and the view from the deck they use outside of the lounge:

It also overlooks the finish line and the Winner's Circle:

We went through the press area, the media room, the finish judges room and ended with the VIP lounge area where Queen Elizabeth watched the race on her visit in 2007:

 Our final shot was taken by Barry, our tour guide, of Josie and I on the balcony just outside this lounge:

The view of the track from this balcony was just as good as the one at Millionaire's Row.

Following the day at Churchill Downs, we went to Costco and then came home. It was an exciting day and one that we will remember for a very long time.

It's back to work tonight at 5 PM, so we'll call it a day for now...