Why I Read It: Like many others, I was horse obsessed as a young girl; I took riding lessons, collected model horses, gobbled up horse books, etc. As a teenager, I faithfully watched the Derby on TV every year. I still enjoy horses and while I don’t watch the Derby consistently anymore, I still have a fondness for it. A lot of what I knew about the Derby was from fiction books and movies so here was a chance to learn more and learn the real stories.

Review:

I’ve been a casual fan of The Kentucky Derby for many years, as have many other Americans. I don’t follow horse racing, though I did as a teenager. But even now, if I’m around on the first Saturday in May, I watch the Derby on my tv. There’s just an appeal, a tug, about the race. When I saw this book available for review, I knew I had to read it. Now that I’ve finished, I’m glad I read but it’s definitely not for the casual reader or fan. Nicholson goes into extensive detail and has an equally extensive bibliography at the end. He clearly researched the race thoroughly, examining it from every angle.

The book is a mix of dry facts and anecdotes, and at times my attention wandered. Nicholson gives not just a history of the race but looks at it in cultural, racial, political and sociological terms, looking at the Derby from different perspectives. Particularly interesting to me was how the perspective and advertising of the race has changed over time, adapting and changing to state and national values and needs.

Thus, it is not the derby element of the Kentucky Derby that makes it unique; rather, the traditions and imagery associated with the Kentuckian roots of the event are responsible for its distinct flavor. These include, most notably, the singing of “My Old Kentucky Home”, the blanket of roses ceremonially draped upon the winning horse, mint juleps, ladies dressed as “southern belles,” and the wild cacophony of the infield that contrasts so markedly with the civility and refinement in the clubhouse. These aspects of the Kentucky Derby experience all have their roots in Kentucky’s unique and everchanging identity within American experience: It is Kentucky – and its associated history, imagery, and mythology – that gives the Kentucky Derby its distinct character and has allowed the event to remain culturally relevant despite myriad changes in American society since the race was first contested over 135 years ago.

If you are a fan of history and sociology this is a good book for you but for the casual fan of the race, but otherwise, you may want to skip this book. With all of the facts and in-depth explorations, the book is a dense read that requires your full attention and a significant chunk of your reading time. I recommend reading it in long stretches of time and not in bits and pieces.