The Black History and Fashion of The Kentucky Derby

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News Source : The Root

News Summary

  • As the world descends on Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby, we’re shifting the spotlight to the Black history and high-octane fashion that have always been the race’s real winning bet.
  • The Kentucky Derby started in 1875 at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, by Col. Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr., who was inspired by the horse racing events he attended in England.
  • 15 of the first 28 Derby winners were Black men, including the first winning jockey, Oliver Lewis.
L, Kentucky Derby (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images); R, John H. Sengstacke (1912 1997), with friends and family (Photo by The Abbott Sengstacke Family Papers/Robert Abbott Sengstacke/Getty Images) [+6289 chars]

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