Roses are preserved at the Kentucky Derby Museum Louisville, Kentucky.
Visitors can walk through a race starting gate at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
Banners hang over the theater at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Churchill Downs finish line pole is on display at the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
White clouds steadily coast across the blue sky, and a crisp spring breeze stirs the air outside the Kentucky Derby Museum in Louisville, Kentucky.
Near the entrance, an imposing bronze statue of Barbaro, winner of the 2006 132nd Derby, greets visitors. It’s the final resting place of the colt who won the Derby by 6 ½ lengths and then suffered an injury in the Preakness, the Triple Crown’s second leg.
Located on the grounds of Churchill Downs, the Kentucky Derby Museum houses a rich collection of treasures.
The museum houses memorabilia. It houses trophies, documents, programs, posters. It even houses dishes and glasses.
Access to the exhibits is gained by passing through a model electronic starting gate. Courtesy of True Center Gate, the model has been a part of the museum collection since 2010. Autographs of Derby-winning jockeys cover its stalls. To think that early races began with horses assembled behind lines drawn in the sand and a drum tap to cue the jockeys to start.
Details of the race’s origin unravel on wall displays and behind the glass.
Meriwether Lewis Clark, Jr., grandson of explorer William Clark, hosted the inaugural race in 1875, which he modeled after the English Epsom Derby.
Credit is given to Kentucky native Martin J. Winn for elevating the Derby to an international event. Mr. Derby, as he is known, implemented events and created traditions that improved attendance and garnered world-wide recognition.
As with any museum, information here is woven together with mementos.
Handcrafted stoneware plates, their outer edges adorned with running horses, complement a section celebrating Derby food. Chicken and fried fish sold by locals, Hot Browns, bourbon balls, and ham biscuits were just some of the items served at the inaugural race. Nearby, a collection of Derby glasses descends a spiraling stand.
Numerous hats grace the rooms, but one in particular catches my attention. It’s a two-toned straw hat, red atop beige, and it’s adorned with a generous bow. It’s a replica of the one Queen Elizabeth wore to the 2007 Derby.
An extensive Derby timeline exhibit hangs along an interior wall. Each year is represented with its own plaque and includes information unique to the respective race: the winner, jockey, breeder, trainer and owner, the track conditions, and the names and finishes of other horses.
At the wall, my husband points to specific years.
“That was my graduation year,” he says. “I remember that day and that horse.”
This museum houses mementos that evoke such reflection.
There is no pressure to see and to remember everything about the Kentucky Derby, but instead to simply appreciate each detail as it’s presented in this venue, in this place, in this form.
(Note: Marjorie Appelman is an English, communications and journalism teacher at Mason County High School and co-founder of the travel blog Tales from the Trip, which is on Instagram and Facebook. She can be reached at marj.appelman@gmail.com.)
