The Kentucky Derby is an American Grade I stakes race run at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky. The race is run by three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles. Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds and fillies 121 pounds.
The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. It is run over the worldwide classic distance of 1+1⁄2 miles. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds (57 kg); fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). The race, nicknamed The Test of the Champion, The Test of Champions and The Run for the Carnations, is the traditional third and final leg of the Triple Crown. It is usually held on the first or second Saturday in June, five weeks after the Kentucky Derby and three weeks after the Preakness Stakes. The 1973 Belmont Stakes and Triple Crown winner Secretariat holds the track record of 2:24.
Northern Dancer was a Thoroughbred that, in 1964, became the first Canadian-bred horse to win the Kentucky Derby. After being retired from racing, he became one of the most successful sires of the 20th century. He is considered a Canadian icon and was inducted into the Canadian Sports Hall of Fame in 1965. Induction into the Racing Hall of Fame in both Canada and the United States followed in 1976. As a competitor, The Blood-Horse ranked him as one of the top 100 U.S. Thoroughbred racehorses of the 20th century. As a sire of sires, his influence on the breed is still felt worldwide.
Ben Brush (1893–1918) was a champion American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 1896 Kentucky Derby.
Curlin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was the American Horse of the Year in both 2007 and 2008. He retired in 2008 as the highest North American money earner with over US$10.5 million accumulated. His major racing wins included the 2007 Preakness Stakes, 2007 Breeders' Cup Classic, and 2008 Dubai World Cup. In August 2008, Timeform assigned a 134 rating for Curlin, calling him the best horse in the world on dirt. Curlin was elected to the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in 2014, his first year of eligibility.
Luke Blackburn (1877–1904) was a thoroughbred race horse born and bred in Tennessee by Capt. James Franklin. He was inducted into the US Horse Racing Hall of Fame in 1956.
The 1999Tennessee Titans season was the franchise's 40th season and their 30th in the National Football League (NFL). It was the first year for the team under the name “Titans”, while the nickname “Oilers” was retired by the NFL. The Titans qualified for the playoffs for the first time since 1993, and their first since relocating from Houston, as well as their first playoff victory since 1991. They became the seventh Wild Card team to qualify for the Super Bowl. However, after defeating the Bills, Colts, and Jaguars in the postseason, they lost the Super Bowl to the St. Louis Rams, 23–16 on a famous last-second tackle made by Rams defender Mike Jones at the goal line that prevented Titans receiver Kevin Dyson from scoring a potential game-tying touchdown.
Big Brown is an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the 2008 Kentucky Derby and 2008 Preakness Stakes and was the 2008 Champion Three-Year-Old.
Rachel Alexandra is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse and the 2009 Horse of the Year. When she won the 2009 Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown, she became the first filly to win the race in 85 years. She also won races in six states, on eight different tracks, against fillies and Grade 1 colts and older horses, achieving a long string of consecutive wins including numerous Grade 1 stakes. Rachel Alexandra neared or broke multiple stakes records, track records and winning margin records throughout her career. On September 28, 2010, owner Jess Jackson announced Rachel Alexandra's retirement. She was bred to 2007–2008 Horse of the Year Curlin and delivered a colt on January 22, 2012.
Quality Road is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse and successful sire.
Himyar was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. Although successful as a racehorse he is most notable as the sire of 1898 Kentucky Derby winner Plaudit and Domino, the grandsire of Colin and Peter Pan. Himyar lived to be thirty years old, outliving both Domino and his famous grandson Commando, who both died young.
The 2003 Kentucky Derby was the 129th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 3, 2003, and was won by longshot Funny Cide. There were 148,530 in attendance.
The 2001 Kentucky Derby was the 127th running of the Kentucky Derby. The race took place on May 5, 2001. There was a crowd of 154,210 in attendance. The 127th Kentucky Derby was the first to be broadcast on NBC, garnering a Nielsen rating of 8.1.
Verrazano is an American Thoroughbred racehorse. In 2013, trained by Todd Pletcher, he established himself as one of the leading three-year-old colts with early wins in the Tampa Bay Derby and Wood Memorial Stakes. He finished fourteenth in the Kentucky Derby and missed the remaining two legs of the Triple Crown but returned to prominence later in the summer with wins in the Pegasus Stakes and the Haskell Invitational Stakes. In his four-year-old year, he was campaigned in Europe, trained by Aidan O'Brien.
Exaggerator is a retired American Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 2016 Preakness Stakes. Racing as a two-year-old in 2015, he won three of his six starts including the Saratoga Special Stakes and the Delta Jackpot Stakes as well as finishing second in the Breeders' Futurity and fourth in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile. The following spring, he finished second in the San Vicente Stakes and third in the San Felipe Stakes before establishing himself as a contender for the 2016 Kentucky Derby with a six length win in the Santa Anita Derby. After finishing second to Nyquist in the Derby, he turned the tables to win the 2016 Preakness Stakes. He ran poorly in the 2016 Belmont Stakes but defeated Nyquist again in the Haskell Invitational. Tactically, Exaggerator was a "closer" – one who prefers to come from behind in his races.
Billie Nipper was an American artist who specialized in painting portraits of horses. Nipper, a native of Cleveland, Tennessee, painted every horse that won the Tennessee Walking Horse World Grand Championship from 1976 until her death. Besides Tennessee Walking Horses, she painted other breeds of horse, as well as landscapes. Her paintings were made into prints and transferred onto china and other objects. Nipper also bred horses, and her husband and son were horse trainers.
The horse industry in Tennessee is the 6th largest in the United States, and over 3 million acres of Tennessee farmland are used for horse-related activities. The Tennessee Walking Horse became an official state symbol in 2000.
Girvin is an American Thoroughbred racehorse, winner of the 2017 Louisiana Derby and Haskell Invitational. He was the holder of the highest point ranking for the 2017 Road to the Kentucky Derby.
The 2018 Kentucky Derby was the 144th running of the Kentucky Derby, and took place on Saturday, May 5, 2018, in Louisville, Kentucky. The field was open to 20 horses, with a purse of US$2 million. The Derby is held annually in Louisville on the first Saturday in May, at the end of the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. It is a Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds at a distance of 1+1⁄4 miles (2.0 km), and has been run at Churchill Downs racetrack since its inception in 1875.
Tyrant was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who came from California to win the 1885 Belmont Stakes, a prestigious race at Jerome Park Racetrack on the U. S. East Coast that would become the third leg of the U.S. Triple Crown series.
Clinton Anderson 
Stacy Westfall 
Jim Anderson
Vicki Wilson