Churchill Downs is a major Thoroughbred horse-racing facility located in Louisville, Kentucky. It is most famous for the annual Kentucky Derby and for it’s unique grandstand, featuring twin spires.
The track is named for John and Henry Churchill, who leased the land to their nephew, Colonel Meriwether Lewis Clark. Clark wanted to model his racetrack on the English tracks, so the first race meet featured the Kentucky Derby, Kentucky Oaks and Clark Handicap. These were modeled after the three elite races in England - the Epsom Derby, Epsom Oaks and St. Leger Stakes. Initially the Kentucky Derby was a mile and a half race, but when the track was sold in 1983 the new owners shortened the length of the signature race to its modern 1 1⁄4 miles, commissioning the famous twin spire grandstand in 1895, and adorning the winner of the Derby with a garland of roses.
Churchill Downs was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1986. Today, Churchill Downs covers 147 acres in metropolitan Louisville. The usual number of spectators seated at the Derby is 50,000 people, though crowds can reach over 150,000 on Derby day. The dirt oval main track, on which the Derby is run, is one mile in circumference and is 79–80 feet wide, with a 120-foot-wide section for the starting gate. A turf track, inside the main track, is 7⁄8 mile in circumference and 80-foot wide.
