It’s today. The Kentucky Derby and we have the flooring all ready to go. We often leave a job site and take a moment to look at the historical context of what we have participated in producing. You can’t get a longer, richer history than the Derby. It’s the first Saturday in May in Louisville’s Churchill Downs, and is considered to be the most exciting two minutes in Sports. Secretariat’s record of 1:59.4 seconds in 1973 has yet to be challenged, and to make it even more impressive, each quarter of his historical chase to the finish line was faster than the one before it. Doesn’t get better than that.
Remember Louis and Clark long trek? It was that Louis’ grandson that conceived of The Derby after returning from England where he visited England’s Derby and thought it was just what this side of the pond needed.
Here is Churchill Downs in 1911, and here it is today after the installation by companies like us that enlarge its capacity for today’s race to 160,000 attendees. Last year, 16.2 million watched on television. And, let’s just end with the fact that more people watch the Kentucky Derby than the Super Bowl. Now there’s a statistic that makes you pause. Mint Julips consumed? We have no idea.