Churchill Downs - Home of Kentucky Derby Racing and Wagering

Date Built: 1875
Capacity: 48,500
Track(s) One mile
Soil: Sandy loam, 75% sand, 23% silt, 2% clay
Width: 80 feet; backstretch, 79 feet
Turf Course: Track: 7/8th mile
Turf: 90% Fescue, 10% Bluegrass
Width: 80 feet

May of 1875, the legendary racetrack Churchill Downs was born and became home to the Kentucky Derby – the longest continuously running sporting event in America.

In 1883 the track was officially named "Churchill Downs," another 20 years before Twin Spires topped a new grandstand, 28 years before the racetrack became profitable, and 50 years before the Derby earned its "Run for the Roses" moniker.

Matt Winn, who led a syndicate that took the reins of the struggling facility in 1902 and eventually brought the racetrack and its signature race to a level of international acclaim virtually unmatched by a U.S. sporting event. Winn was an innovator, promoter and champion of the sport who is credited with making the Kentucky Derby what it is today in terms of action, entertianment and horse racing betting.

During Winn's tenure, Churchill Downs racetrack hosted state fairs at the facility, locomotive collisions in the infield, and auto races on the racetrack. Even the first recorded flight in Kentucky is tied to Churchill Downs, when pilot Glenn Curtiss, founder of Curtiss-Wright Aviation, shipped a plane in by train, assembled it at the track and took off from the infield.

Churchill Downs racetrack was organized as a Kentucky corporation in 1928 and officially became known as Churchill Downs Incorporated ("CDI") in 1942.

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