Ten Louisville Tourist Attractions I've Been To: Churchill Downs (#10)

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Along with my list of local tourist attractions I've never been to (not yet, anyway), I'm also looking at the ones I have been to. It's a salute to my hometown, looking at the good things we have here. Here's the first thing on the list. #10: Churchill Downs I should qualify this: I haven't been to Churchill Downs in my adult life. I went there 50 years ago on a second-grade field trip, though. I live not too far from it, though, so I see the exterior a lot. This is what makes us Derby City. There's a horse race at this track the first Saturday in May that you might have heard of. In addition to the Kentucky Derby and the Kentucky Oaks (the "Derby for fillies"), horse racing is held in "meets" three times a year: spring, September, and fall. The Breeder's Cup is also occasionally held at Churchill Downs (as it was this year). There's a lot to see at the track beyond just the races and betting on them. There's a statue of Barbaro, the 2006 Kentucky Derby winner who broke his leg two weeks later in the Preakness, at one of the entrances. (Barbaro's ashes are buried near the entrance.) The tours that I once went on are now covered by the museum, which is a "separate entity" ("lawyers dwell on small details," as Don Henley once sang) from the track. The one bad thing about the renovation in recent years is the famous, legendary Twin Spires are almost invisible now. They need to move them to the top of the building and restore them to the crowning touch of the track. (Trivia: the spires are lit up in green and red at Christmastime.) It's the little neighborhood race track that everybody knows about. Here's a great montage that a local TV station put together: