The 149th Kentucky derby!
By: Caitlyn Bayne
5/15/23
On May 6, 2023 the 149th Kentucky derby took place at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The Kentucky Derby is a big part of the USA, from the competitive horse racing to the yelling fans. The Kentucky Derby once a year, it is held on the first saturday of May. In this article you will learn about the derby, who wins, and what people think about the derby.
Glass panel of 149th Kentucky derby race.
If you don’t already know, a Kentucky derby is a horse race. In the Kentucky Derby there are many horses that race. According to https://www.usatoday.com, “Usually, 20 horses run the race. This year, it was 18 after five horses were scratched.” On an Average 8 horses race against one another, well in the derby 20 horses usually compete. The horses, before they start, will go into little stalls with their riders. When the bell rings the horses run out the stalls. That is when the riders on the horses run out and try to beat the riders.When I asked Adirianna Minninck, a 6th grader at Ejhs, what she thought of the Kentucky derby she said, “I loved the Kentucky derby, I was interesting how the horse could run so fast!” But what really happened at and after the 149th Kentucky derby?
All 18 horses were ready, as they were walking in the line to show off all the horses and the riders, you could see the nerves on the riders faces. The 18 horses that were in the races were, mage, Two Phil’s, Angel of Empire, Disarm, Hit Show, Derma Sotogake, Tapit Trice, Raise Cain, Rocket can, Confidence Game, Sun Thunder, Mandarin Hero, Reincarnate, Kingsbarns, King Russell, Verifying, Jace’s Road, and Cyclone Mischief. All these horses were in the stalls, when the bell rang the horses ran like there was a bee chasing them. Verifying Starts off strong with Kingsbarns right behind. Kingsbarns takes the lead with Two Phil’s right behind. When out of nowhere, Mage takes the lead and wins the Kentucky derby with Two Phil’s in second. The crowd goes wild as one of the fans had betted on Mage making them win money. After all the commotion there were interviews with some of the fans and even Jockey Javier Castellano, the person that rode Mage.
In the end, the Kentucky derby is a very important and interesting around a week long event. Even the people who didn’t win still had a great time. The derby is something that I would definitely watch next year or even be in it when you are older. The derby is very interesting and I would definitely recommend watching it and learning more about it. I hope this article helped you with learning more about the derby and made you want to watch the derby next year.
Photo of the first place winner.
Contributer Bio
Caitlyn Bayne is a 11 year old girl in 6th grade who loves to write articles and sleep in her free time. She also loves to do art and spend time with her friends and family. She also plays the trumpet in a brass band with some of her friends.