Post by Da Boss on Aug 12, 2020 18:54:56 GMT -5
The twin spires of Churchill Downs have been a staple of life in Louisville for the past hundred and fifty years. Originally constructed on the outside of Louisville the city has grown around the track, but even suggesting that it be changed is rejected the first four times it is mentioned. It is the single, largest, money maker for the city, and some say for the state. For a large part of the world there is a cult around the fastest two minutes in sports, and this is its epicenter. Starting in March of every year the entire state begins to go crazy in preparation for the same event to happen again, and failing to do your part in Louisville to show that you're on board is a make or break moment in many people's careers. (It is said that the first person to suggest the Derby Pins being sold for access to the better food trucks in the city is now running a Fortune 500 company, and the gentleman who suggested they increase the price the food trucks had to pay resulting in only mass marketed trucks getting in now sweeps the floors at the fair grounds.)
Outside of that one particular Saturday, the giant complex that all operates under the name of Churchill Downs has horse racing all through the summer months and does a number of special events and gimmicks to draw in the crowds that you would expect; carnival rides for kids on Father's Day. There's also the official Kentucky Derby Museum on site that attracts visitors even when the ponies aren't doing much. And of course, the barns, restaurants, paddocks, and all of the associated buildings that you would expect from a corporation as large as Churchill Downs.
The Downs, as some of the locals refer to it, is a place where tradition and history meets the modern. Everything has a price these days, but sometimes the thing that's being sold is a century old tradition that is considered sacred by the people of the Commonwealth. Even people that don't watch the Derby itself know to keep track of it for the parties, the festivals, the parades, and everything else that is associated with the race.
Outside of that one particular Saturday, the giant complex that all operates under the name of Churchill Downs has horse racing all through the summer months and does a number of special events and gimmicks to draw in the crowds that you would expect; carnival rides for kids on Father's Day. There's also the official Kentucky Derby Museum on site that attracts visitors even when the ponies aren't doing much. And of course, the barns, restaurants, paddocks, and all of the associated buildings that you would expect from a corporation as large as Churchill Downs.
The Downs, as some of the locals refer to it, is a place where tradition and history meets the modern. Everything has a price these days, but sometimes the thing that's being sold is a century old tradition that is considered sacred by the people of the Commonwealth. Even people that don't watch the Derby itself know to keep track of it for the parties, the festivals, the parades, and everything else that is associated with the race.