Mondo Knows Facts
The Kentucky Derby dates from 1875
It is run over a mile and a quarter at Churchill Downs in Louisville The first Derby was run in 1875 and is the oldest continuously held sporting event in the United States. It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown and is limited to three-year-old thoroughbreds. The race is known for its garland of roses and the crowd's mint juleps. It sits in Mondo's sports collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
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More facts like this
The Melbourne Cup is a 3,200-metre handicapIt is run on the first Tuesday of November and stops the state of VictoriaThe Epsom Derby was first run in 1780It was named after the Earl of Derby at a dinner party coin tossSecretariat won the 1973 Belmont by 31 lengthsHe finished the mile and a half in 2 minutes 24 seconds, still the recordHorse races are timed by a photo finish cameraOfficials read times to a hundredth of a second as the field crosses the lineThe Grand National was first run in 1839It has been staged over the big fences at Aintree ever sinceAn American football field is 100 yards longTwo 10-yard end zones sit beyond it, and the field is 53 and a third yards wide
🏅 Sportsfact 153 of 200
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Tags: horse-racing, kentucky-derby, 1875
The Kentucky Derby dates from 1875: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- It is run over a mile and a quarter at Churchill Downs in Louisville. The figure is taken from Churchill Downs, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a sports fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Sports shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.