The Kentucky Derby is a global sports spectacle and, in the eyes of many, America’s definitive sporting tradition. The event was forged, remarkably, by two of the great epic events in United States history: the triumph of the Lewis and Clark Expedition and the tragedy of the Civil War. The bluegrass seeds of the world's most famous horse race were planted by a fascinating man with a uniquely American heritage.
His name: Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. He founded both the Kentucky Derby, which has been run every year since 1875, and the Louisville Jockey Club, later known as Churchill Downs. 'Clark’s impact on the Kentucky Derby and on horse racing in general cannot be overstated,' Chris Goodlett, senior director of curatorial and education affairs at the Kentucky Derby Museum, told Fox News Digital. 'He was extremely important, to say the least.
His love of horses was passed onto his son, Meriwether Lewis Clark.' The elder Meriwether Lewis Clark raised dozens of horses and kept detailed records of them. Clark Jr. grew up in a culture shaped by dauntless pioneers and horsemen. The Kentucky Derby also sprang from the desire of Kentucky’s horse-racing community to recover from the devastation of the Civil War.
The attendance was upward of 12,000,' the New Orleans Republican reported. 'The grandstand being thronged by a brilliant assemblage of ladies and gentlemen.' Aristides, a majestic chestnut colt, galloped to victory against a field of 14 other thoroughbreds 'in the fastest time ever made by a three-year-old,' according to another contemporary account. Aristides was owned by H.
It was there that Williamson heroically saved Asteroid, Kentucky’s most famous thoroughbred of the era, from Quantrill’s Raiders, a notorious band of Confederate horsemen that included among its members Frank and Jesse James. Aristides, the first Kentucky Derby winner, was trained by Ansel Williamson, a former slave and legendary American horseman.