Sorry, But The Kentucky Derby Is Overrated

I cherish my friendship with Nick Roush, I really do. We both grew up in the south end of Louisville and obviously we are fans of the same team. And yes, I laid the groundwork for him to become the star he has become on this site. But despite that, I still view him as an equal. Nonetheless, I feel that friendship might just come to an end today. I have never seen somebody ride so hard for an event as Roush rides for the Kentucky Derby. And quite frankly, I don’t get it. I find that the Kentucky Derby has become one of the most overrated sporting events in this country.

NOT WHAT IT USED TO BE

I have attended 4 or 5 Kentucky Derby’s in my life. I’ve been to Churchill Downs 50 times probably. I have spent most of my life in Louisville, so I know the pomp and circumstance around the Derby quite well. It’s an exciting time to be in this city right now as all of the events surrounding the Derby are cool. But the actual Derby itself has become an overpriced showcase of a dying sport trying to make you think it’s still something special. Back in the day, Derby Day comprised of 2 groups of people: those in the infield and those not in the infield. In the infield were blue jeans and tank tops and nonsense. Out of the infield were fancy suits and big hats and money. The infield folks barely got to see the races but they weren’t there for that. They were there for the party.

Tickets for general admission to the infield this year was $130. Resale for reserved seats in the infield sit above $600 right now. It has very quickly moved away from the common-man area of the track to the rich man area of the track. All kinds of reserved seating sections have been created. Part of the charm of the Derby was that it was still inclusive of just about anybody. That is no longer the case. Which is surprising a sport with consistently declining popularity would not want to attract any and all comers.

THE HORSES HAVE NO FOLLOWING ANYMORE

The winning horses for the Kentucky Derby used to become immortal, even the ones who didn’t go on to win any more of the Triple Crown races. Those who won the first 2 legs became legendary. Now though, you’re lucky to see the Derby winner even try the Preakness. Three of the last 5 Derby winners didn’t even go for the 2nd leg. The only way that horse racing flourishes is with amazing horses. Yes, guys like Bob Baffert and D.Wayne Lukas are intriguing personalities. Occasionally a jokey like Pat Day garners a large following of supporters. But for the casual fan, it’s the horse. And currently, the only way for a horse to gain a general public following is to win the Triple Crown. And more often than not the horses aren’t even given that chance.

I would call myself a casual horse racing fan. My interest begins with the KY Derby and ends with the Belmont Stakes. If you are a serious racing fan, I am sure you have arguments why the sport is run like it is. Not even discussing the cheating issues and horse deaths either. All of that is complex I am sure. But there just isn’t an ability for a horse to develop a following anymore. And for guys like me, I won’t just tune in to horse racing because it exists. It’s not the NFL. There needs to be a reason and that reason is the horse.

IT’S THE INDY 500 (AND NOT IN A GOOD WAY)

Tell me who won the Indy 500 in 2023. If you are a motor racing fan you likely can but almost NOBODY outside of that could name them. The answer was Josef Newgarden. Yeah, that guy. Now let’s do the 2023 Kentucky Derby. I had absolutely no idea before writing this post. The answer was Mage. Both events are held on the same day every year. Both events are held at major sporting facilities. But neither generate any kind of buzz anymore in the sporting community.

And I know what some will say. The TV ratings for the Derby will be solid. It is often the most watched sporting event since the Super Bowl. Somewhere between 13-18 million people will watch it. I will be one of them. But what is the point if it makes no impact? No longer does it seem we have the underdog story of the filly trying to beat the boys. And doing it. It doesn’t feel like there is an up and coming superhorse anymore. And whether or not that is true is simply a byproduct of the decline of the sport. The reason it gets such a high rating is because it only takes 2 minutes to complete.

In some weird way, it should be the event that works really well in American society. There are no politics involved with horses. It doesn’t take a very long time. Everybody loves animals. There is an inherent excitement involved in horse racing. If you ever watched the HBO show “The Newsroom”, Jeff Daniels answers a question about the US being the best country in the world. He says “It’s not. But it can be”. That’s how a I feel about the Derby.

Guys like Roush celebrate the Derby for what it once was. I want to celebrate it again for what it can be. But until we pull our Kentucky heads out of the sand and stop accepting it’s star spangled awesome just because it exists, then maybe we can fix it.