FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
What: The priceless gold trophy that will be presented to the owner of the 3-year-old Thoroughbred that wins the 150th running of the Kentucky Derby presented by Woodford Reserve on the first Saturday in May is scheduled to arrive at Churchill Downs Racetrack.
Speakers: Darren Rogers, Churchill Downs Racetrack Senior Director of Communications
Susanne Blackinton-Juaire of S.R. Blackington
When: Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024 at 10:30 a.m. ET.
Quick Facts:
· Unique jeweled embellishments will note the special 150th anniversary of the Kentucky Derby on the trophy.
· Susanne Blackinton-Juaire and daughter Skyla Blackinton are key current members of the team that has crafted the Kentucky Derby trophy most every year since 1975.
· Blackinton-Juaire is a fifth-generation silversmith whose family entered the profession in 1862 – 13 years before the first Kentucky Derby was run in 1875.
· The Kentucky Derby Winner’s Trophy is 22 inches tall and weighs approximately 67 ounces, excluding the gems and its jade base.
· The trophy was hand-crafted from 14-karat solid yellow gold and green gold over a period of nearly six to eight months.
· The trophy is topped by a 14-karat gold horse and rider and features a pair of horseshoe-shaped wreath handles.
· The front of the trophy is adorned by an 14-karat gold horseshoe that, in accordance with racing tradition, is pointed upward. Racing lore holds that the “luck will run out of a horseshoe” that is pointed downward. The Kentucky Derby Winner’s Trophy carried such a design from its introduction until 1997 when the horseshoe was turned 180 degrees.
· The trophy was first commissioned by Churchill Downs and Kentucky Derby legend Col. Matt Winn in 1924.
· The 150th Kentucky Derby will be held on Saturday, May 4.