Kentucky Derby to go forward May 1 with a Black jockey, a mask mandate, and Essential Quality as the 3-1 favorite
Pictured is Black jockey Kendrick Carmouche
CLEVELANDURBANNEWS.COM, LOUISVILLE, Kentucky-
This comes after Democratic Gov Andy Beshear loosened mask-requirements for outdoor activities for vaccinated Kentuckians.
Ridden by Jockey Luis Saez, Essential Quality is the 3-1 favorite to win the Derby among 19 horses set to participate in the mile and a quarter race around Churchill Downs
Also, the first Black jockey since Kevin Krigger in 2013 will be on hand for a shot at winning the Run for the Roses.
"As a Black rider getting to the Kentucky Derby, I hope it inspires a lot of people because my road wasn't easy to get there and I never quit," jockey Kendrick Carmouche told the Associate Press. "What I've been wanting all my career is to inspire people and make people know that it's not about color."
Carmouche will be riding Bourbonic, a colt trained by Todd A. Pletcher, and will start from the 20th post in the race.
Horse racing fans are glad to get back to a degree of normalcy since the coronavirus broke in the U.S. in March of 2020 and crippled America, in sports, business, health, education, and other venues across the spectrum, some 571, 753 Americans dead and even more across the world from the virus as vaccinations are at 45 percent for at least the first vaccination shot in the U.S .
It is dubbed "The Run for the Roses" as the phrase comes from the blanket of roses draped over the winner.
Millions of people from around the world bet at various live tracks and online sports-books.
It is also known in the United States as "The Most Exciting Two Minutes in Sports" or "The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports" because of its approximate duration.
It is the first leg of the American Triple Crown, followed by the Preakness Stakes, and then the Belmont Stakes.
And it is almost always held the first Saturday in May of each year.
Last year's Derby, that was won by Authenic with jockey John Velazquez guiding the thoroughbred to the finish line, was rescheduled from May to Sept. 5 due to the coronavirus, and the 146th Longines Kentucky Oaks, also at Churchill Downs during Derby weekend, was rescheduled from May 1 to Sept. 4.
Louisville's tradition of hosting the coveted horse-race the first Saturday in May of each year is a tradition that caps a two-week long Derby festival and that was for the second time in history rocked by an international crisis when the pandemic hit last year, a pandemic that has brought the world to its knees.
“For the second time in the 145 year history of the Kentucky Derby, the first time being at the end of World War II, we will move the date of the Derby,” said Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen during a teleconference last year after the Derby was rescheduled.
Carstanjen said that "while we are always respectful of the time-honored traditions of the Kentucky Derby, our company’s true legacy is one of resilience and embracing of change and unshakable resolve."
Carstanjen said that "while we are always respectful of the time-honored traditions of the Kentucky Derby, our company’s true legacy is one of resilience and embracing of change and unshakable resolve."
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