Derby 101: The Garland of Roses

[caption id="attachment_240930" align="alignnone" width="620"] Andy Lyons | Getty Images[/caption] Each year the winner of the Kentucky Derby is showered in a garland of roses.  The beautiful tradition is a masterpiece with a storied background. The first roses ever given to a winner actually were not red.  Ben Brush -- the name of a horse, not a jockey, owner or trainer -- received a bouquet of pink and white roses in 1896 after he won the first Derby ever ran from a mile and a quarter, the race's current distance. A few years later in 1904, the red rose became the Kentucky Derby's official flower.  It was dubbed "The Running for the Roses" by a New York sports columnist in the 20s before Burgoo King wore the first ever modern garland of roses following a victory in the 1932 Kentucky Derby. The rose garland is 122 inches long, 22 inches wide, weighs about 40 pounds and holds 400 roses that are sewn into a green stain background.  One side is stamped with the seal of the Commonwealth; the other with the Twin Spires. Kroger crafts the Kentucky Derby rose garland each year. The public can see it created at the Middletown location from 4:00-11:00 Derby Eve.  It will be on display until 8:45 a.m. Derby morning.  The garland is such a big deal, it gets its own police escort to Churchill Downs. Now the greater question is, who will wear the garland of roses following the 144th Kentucky Derby? Read more in the Derby 101 Series: Cocktails, New Gates and Traffic Patterns, William Faulkner’s Timeless Kentucky Derby Account, The Apollo Curse, Celebrity Sightings [mobile_ad]