1873 Meriwether Lewis Clark Jr. returns from his travels in Europe with great ideas for a horse racing empire causing him to create the Louisville Jockey Club. This enables him to further the dream of holding on U.S. soil such races as he had witnessed in Europe.
1874 Meriwether’s cousins Henry and John Churchill decide to donate 80 acres of land just outside of the city of Louisville, and construction on Churchill Downs is begun.
1875 Ushers in the first inaugural race of the Kentucky Derby held at Churchill Downs. Little Speedball Aristides takes the win in front of a crowd of 10,000 then rides on into history.
1883 Churchill Downs began to claim its name through the media, but wouldn’t become Churchill Downs officially until 1937.
1894 The new Louisville Jockey club steps in with financial support to try and save the floundering race track.
1895 Twin spires are built over the grandstands at Churchill Downs.
1902 Matt Winn puts together a syndicate of businessmen to acquire the facility of Churchill downs. Through his ingenuity and passion for racing, along with his love for the Kentucky Derby itself, Matt Winn brings a new era to the Derby.
1903 Churchill Downs begins to show profit and the Kentucky Derby begins to grow in fame.
1915 Sees a little filly by the name of Regret wearing the roses and becoming the first of her kind to ever hold this title at the Kentucky Derby. Incidentally there have only been three in total of the Derby’s history.
1917 English bred Omar Khayyam becomes the first foreign bred horse to ever win at the Kentucky Derby.
1952 Holds the first national live telecast version of the Kentucky Derby.
1973 Secretariat breaks the record set in 1964 by Northern Dancer with his speed of 1 minute 59 2/5 seconds.
1974 Hosts the 100th running of the Kentucky Derby, in later years it becomes evident that the Kentucky Derby is the longest consecutive running sporting event in the U.S.
1982 Ushers in the first computerized pari-mutuel betting for the Kentucky Derby.
2004-2005 Begins and sees the completion of phases I and II of over 242 million dollar renovations, for Churchill Downs.
