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30-593: There is no record whether a trophy was presented to the winner of the first Derby in 1875. There is evidence that trophy presentations were sporadically made between 1876 and 1924. In 1924, Matt Winn , who was the president of Churchill Downs at the time commissioned a standard design from artist George L. Graff for the 1925 50th "Golden Anniversary" of the Derby. Outside of the jeweled embellishments that were added to note special Derby anniversaries in 1949 (75th), 1974 (100th), and 1999 (125th), only one change has been made to

60-401: A five-year-old horse in 1934, he returned to have a successful campaign in minor races, winning two of his five starts, along with one second-place finish and a third in each of his other two races. Retired to Idle Hour Stock Farm, Burgoo King met with modest success at stud . Although none of his progeny achieved his race or earnings success, he did produce six stakes race winners. Burgoo King

90-487: A record third Kentucky Derby win. Derby favorite Tick On finished sixth but in the ensuing Preakness Stakes he provided fierce competition with Burgoo King and jockey Eugene James beating Tick On by a head. A year after his two Classic wins, James died in a drowning accident in Lake Michigan . Winning the 1932 Belmont Stakes would have made Burgoo King the third U.S. Triple Crown champion in history. Two years earlier,

120-569: A sensation that the president of Churchill Downs, Colonel Lewis Clark , adopted the rose as the race's official flower. The rose garland now synonymous with the Kentucky Derby first appeared in the 1896 when the winner, Ben Brush , received a floral arrangement of white and pink roses. In 1904 the red rose became the official flower of the Kentucky Derby. The tradition was strengthened when, in 1925, New York sports columnist Bill Corum , later

150-505: A silk replica of the garland, but since Grindstone's 1996 victory, the actual garland has made the trip to Danville, Kentucky to be freeze-dried. Some owners have even gone as far as to have a flower dipped in silver. A silver dipped flower from the garland of Gato del Sol, the 1982 winner, is on display in the Kentucky Derby Museum. The Kroger Company has been the official florist of the Kentucky Derby since 1987. After taking over

180-469: Is also adorned with a "Crown" of roses, green fern and ribbon. The "Crown," a single rose pointing upward in the center of the garland, symbolizes the struggle and heart necessary to reach the winners' circle. Each year the Governor and other dignitaries present the winning jockey with a bouquet of 60 long stemmed roses wrapped in ten yards of ribbon. For several years, owners of the Derby winner also received

210-442: Is topped by an 18-karat gold horse and rider, includes horseshoe shaped handles, is 22 inches tall and weighs 56 ounces, excluding its jade base. Most of it is 14-karat gold; some components are 14-karat green gold. To complete the trophy by April, construction begins during the fall of the previous year; the completed trophy takes approximately 2000 hours of labor. Typically 29 parts are combined into 19 components which comprise

240-571: The American Derby in Chicago , Burgoo King bowed a tendon and would not race again for almost two years. That Burgoo King did not race from around mid-1932 until mid-1934 is a fact, but the National Sporting Library's Thoroughbred Heritage website says that he was referred to as being "far from robust" by turf writers. As such, he may have had a minor ankle injury that kept him out of

270-620: The Belmont but would have healed enough in time for the American Derby a week later. Or, his handlers may simply have chosen not to risk injuring the suddenly valuable colt over the Belmont's 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 mile distance, the longest and most grueling of the Triple Crown races. Instead, they may have opted to go to the then-very prestigious American Derby, which was run at the Kentucky Derby distance of 1 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles. Two years later

300-615: The Derby made the cover of the May 10 issue of Time magazine . In 1944, Colonel Winn collaborated with Frank G. Menke to publish Down The Stretch: The Story of Col. Matt J. Winn . He died in Louisville on October 6, 1949. He is buried in his family plot in St. Louis Cemetery , 1215 Barret Avenue, Louisville. The Matt Winn Stakes for three-year-olds held each May at Churchill Downs was named in his honor. Burgoo King Burgoo King (1929–1946)

330-547: The Derby. Winn called Regret's victory a turning point, and he worked to create an event of exotic grandeur that women soon flocked to, coming from both fashionable society and the ordinary working classes . Under Winn, the Kentucky Derby became the preeminent thoroughbred horse race in America and in recognition of his accomplishments, the Governor of Kentucky bestowed on him the honorary title of Kentucky Colonel . In 1937, Winn and

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360-669: The Governor of the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the Chairman of Churchill Downs Incorporated awards the trophies to the winning connections about ten minutes after the race is declared official on NBC network TV. The third and final presentation of the trophies is on "Alumni Day" on the Saturday of June following the Belmont Stakes, exactly six weeks after the race. The winning owner, trainer, jockey and breeder are all invited back to receive

390-447: The catering operation and summer entertainment and in 1914 he was listed as general manager of the new Louisville Jockey Club. A skilled marketer, in his first year running the racetrack, his promotions for the event saw the business make its first-ever annual profit. A few years later, Winn was involved in changing the wagering from bookmaker betting to a Parimutuel betting system and in 1911 increased business substantially by reducing

420-467: The colt Brother Joe, leaving the lightly regarded Burgoo King for young James. The 1932 Kentucky Derby had a field of twenty starters, but Burgoo King got away cleanly. Shortly into the race stablemate Brother Joe pulled up lame. Although Burgoo King raced two wide with another horse behind the frontrunner, he made a strong move on the backstretch to take the lead and in the homestretch pulled away to win easily by three lengths. For Colonel Bradley, it marked

450-471: The day his father brought him to see the first running of the Kentucky Derby in 1875. In 1902, Matt Winn was operating as a merchant tailor. He was asked by one of his clients, William E. Applegate, (who, at that time, owned over eighty percent of the New Louisville Jockey Club) to become involved in the reorganization and management of Churchill Downs. Winn came on board as vice president to run

480-557: The duties from the Kingsley Walker florist, Kroger began constructing the prestigious garland in one of its local stores for the public to view on Derby Eve. The preservation of the garland and crowds of spectators watching its construction are a testament to the prestige and mystique of the Garland of Roses. Legend – ₩ = Triple Crown winners, ♥ = Filly Matt Winn Martin J. " Matt " Winn (June 30, 1861 – October 6, 1949)

510-534: The gold Kentucky Derby Trophy is when it is officially presented to Churchill Downs race course on the last Saturday of April escorted by the Kentucky Army National Guard soldiers in between races on the undercard of the Derby Trial Stakes on opening day of the spring meet each year. The second presentation is the one that is most familiar to the public on the first Saturday of May. It is when

540-499: The handlers for 1934 Kentucky Derby winner Cavalcade , who lost the Preakness by a nose, chose to skip the Belmont and compete in the American Derby instead. Burgoo King's injury was a serious one and he did not return to racing until May 1934. At a time when more than one organization selected annual thoroughbred champions, despite his shortened campaign, Burgoo King still shared U.S. Three-Year-Old Co-Champion honors with Faireno . As

570-595: The horseshoe with the ends pointing up. Racing superstition decrees that if the horseshoe is turned down all the luck will run out. The trophy was supplied by Lemon & Son, a Louisville jeweller (and the oldest retail business in Louisville) from 1924 until 1999. From 1975 onwards, the trophy has been manufactured by the New England Sterling company, located in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. The trophy, which

600-426: The original design. For the 125th Kentucky Derby in 1999, Churchill Downs officials decided to defer to racing lore and change the direction of the decorative horseshoe. The horseshoe, fashioned from 18-karat gold, had pointed downward on each of the trophies since 1924. To commemorate Derby 125 the change was made and the horseshoe was turned 180 degrees so that its ends pointed up. The trophy now annually incorporates

630-568: The president of Churchill Downs, dubbed the Kentucky Derby the "Run for the Roses". The garland as it exists today was first introduced in 1932 for the 58th running won by Burgoo King . Each year, a garland of more than 400 red roses is sewn into a green satin backing with the seal of the Commonwealth on one end and the Churchill Downs twin spires and number of the running on the other. Each garland

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660-425: The term "Triple Crown" had been coined by a sportswriter amid the hoopla surrounding Gallant Fox . The 1932 Belmont was run on June 4 but it has been reported that the colt was not eligible due to a failure on the part of his handlers to file all of the required paperwork. However, according to other sources, he twisted an ankle before the race and could not run. Another source claims that on June 11, while training for

690-406: The trophies they earned earlier but have since been engraved with precise information engraved on each award. Churchill celebrates its third largest draw at the gate when the trophies are presented on " Stephen Foster " day. That day includes two opportunities for the public to meet winning alumni of the Kentucky Derby. The first has many former winning jockeys hold an autograph session. The second has

720-413: The trophy. Various construction techniques are used, including casting (the horse and rider that top the trophy), stamping and metal spinning. The trophy is believed to be the only solid gold trophy that is annually awarded the winner of a major American sporting event. As of 2008, its material raw value was $ 90,000. Each year there are three separate presentations of the trophy. The first presentation of

750-415: The wager ticket from $ 5 to $ 2. Matt Winn used his understanding of marketing to weave an aura of romance around the Kentucky Derby. In 1915, he convinced the multimillionaire sportsman Harry Payne Whitney to ship his highly rated filly Regret from New Jersey to Louisville to compete in the Derby. Whitney agreed, and Winn's effort paid off with nationwide publicity surrounding the first filly to ever win

780-500: The winning connections participating in a news conference and trophy presentation in between races on the undercard of the Stephen Foster Handicap , which is a grade one race for older horses at the Derby distance of one mile and a quarter. The use of roses was first established as part of the Derby celebration when they were presented to all the ladies attending a fashionable Louisville Derby party in 1883. The roses were such

810-610: Was a prominent personality in American thoroughbred horse racing history and president of Churchill Downs racetrack, home to the Kentucky Derby race that he made famous. In 2017, he was inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame as a Pillar of the Turf. Matt Winn was born in Louisville, Kentucky on June 30, 1861. A businessman, he had been a racing enthusiast since

840-519: Was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the first two legs of the U.S. Triple Crown series but who did not run in the final race, the Belmont Stakes . Owned by Colonel Edward R. Bradley and foaled at his renowned Idle Hour Stock Farm near Lexington, Kentucky , Burgoo King was named for a local grocer famous for his burgoo stew. Out of the mare Minawand, he was sired by Bradley's 1926 Kentucky Derby winner, Bubbling Over . Burgoo King

870-429: Was sent off at betting odds of close to 6:1 behind the favored Hopeful Stakes winner Tick On . The colt was ridden by 19-year-old Eugene James , an up-and-coming jockey from Louisville, Kentucky , whom Time magazine said had "made a sensation" in his 1931 racing season. Nonetheless, at the time, Colonel Bradley's top jockey was Laverne Fator , who had first choice of any of Idle Hour's horses. Fator chose to ride

900-518: Was trained by future U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee "Derby Dick" Thompson . Although he won four of his twelve starts in 1931, Burgoo King's best result in several major races for American two-year-olds was a third-place finish in the Pimlico Futurity . At age three, Burgoo King was unplaced in the Withers Stakes and for the Kentucky Derby was not considered a significant contender. He

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