The "Run for the Roses," otherwise known as the Kentucky Derby, is the world's most fabled horserace—as well as the oldest continuous athletic competition held in the United States. It is the first of three annual races, followed by the Preakness and Belmont Stakes, in which three-year-old thoroughbreds compete for the Triple Crown. Each spring, over one hundred thousand racing fans congregate at the Churchill Downs racetrack in Louisville, Kentucky, to witness what has come to be known as the "greatest two minutes in sports."

The race dates back to May 1875, when Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark (1846–1899) staged the first Derby, which he modeled after the English Derby held at Epsom Downs in Surrey, England. The original Kentucky Derby course was a mile and a half; eventually, it was reduced to a mile and a quarter. Aristides, a chestnut colt, was the first winner. Subsequent contests...