LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Derby 149 is right around the corner and 2023 marks 50 years since Secretariat’s iconic win.
Derby Museum curators recently gave WHAS11 News a look at how the Kentucky Derby was in the 1970s.
They said the 1970s were special because it saw the largest Kentucky Derby crowds and of course, everyone was donning different types of hats including those that were homemade.
The three Triple Crown winners of the 1970s – Secretariat, Seattle Slew and Affirmed helped rejuvenate the sport.
“Horse racing as a sport was waning, and what was so exciting about the 1970s, was all this cultural focus on the Kentucky Derby helped revived horse racing in general. These three Triple Crown winners, that of course, started their first leg of the Kentucky Derby here at Churchill Downs brought that excitement to Pimlico to Belmont and it just rippled across the country,” Jessica Whitehead, curator of collections at the Kentucky Derby Museum, said.
For more on the Derby fashion collection, click here for more information.
Kentucky Derby 149 is May 6, 2023.
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