Kentucky Derby Tickets

The Kentucky Derby is a Grade I stakes race for Thoroughbred horses that are three years of age held at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, annually on the first Saturday in May ending the two week Kentucky Derby Festival. It is the first leg of the United States Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing which is followed by the Preakness Stakes and next the Belmont Stakes. The race is 1 ¼ miles with the horses being Colts and geldings carrying 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.

The Kentucky Derby is one of the oldest thoroughbred horse races in the United States known as The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports", "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports", or "The Run for the Roses". The first two of course pertaining to the length of time it takes for the race and the later one due to the blanket of roses that are draped over the winner.

The track is named for Henry and John Churchill that began with only 80 acres of land and has grown to 147 acres. The clubhouse was renovated between 2001 and 2005, which now offers new additions including a mural depicting all the 96 jockeys to win the Kentucky Derby from 1875 until 2004. A museum is also on the grounds offering visitors a chance to explore the training and racing of thoroughbred horses along with a 360-degree cinema showing short films.

Fans around for the first Kentucky Derby saw Aristides win with a time of 2:37.75 and the latest winner was Mine That Bird with jockey Calvin Borel and a time of 2:02.66. Many fans throughout the years once buying tickets have enjoyed seeing all kinds of records broken. A few of these include a Speed record by Secretariat in 1973 with 1:59.40 and the longest shot to win the Derby was Donerail in 1913 with odds at $92.40 to 1.

The racing dates or schedule for 2010 is April 24, 2010 until November 27, 2010 with the Kentucky Derby being the first Saturday in May. Online Kentucky Derby tickets are available for all races.