It's been called "the greatest two minutes in sports" -- the Kentucky Derby at Louisville's famed Churchill Downs -- when horse racing's best 3-year-olds compete in the first leg of the Triple Crown.
The Delta Queen Steamboat Company hopes that before race-goers cruise to the Derby May 7, they might want to cruise on the company's two paddle-wheel steamers.
With some overlap, the four cruises run between April 29 and May 13. Fares range from $1,150 per person for the least expensive cabin on a four-night cruise up to $5,015 for the most expensive on the nine-night cruise.
The cruises include tickets for seats at what is perhaps the country's most famous horse race. Traditionally, Kentucky Derby tickets are so coveted, says one long-time Derby fan, that "most people can't even buy them; they inherit them."
Depending on the cruise selected, passengers also may visit a ** thoroughbred farm, breakfast with a handicapper, or attend a Derby Ball with dancing to big-band sounds of Guy Lombardo's orchestra. At a minimum, passengers can partake of some of the festivities and pageantry that surround Derby Week, among them the Oaks Race (a whole day of racing before the Derby), and the Run for the Roses.
You might say the Derby is the Super Bowl of racing, and the 51,500-seat Churchill Downs complex, which was placed on the register of National Historic Landmarks in 1986 by the Department of the Interior, is the hub of Louisville's social event of the season. The venue is replete with tradition -- Southern belles in wide-brimmed picture hats -- and interesting historical footnotes.
Until three years ago, most Derby attendees merely stood in the infield, but permanent metal bleachers have now been installed across from the grandstands.
"Bring binoculars for scanning famous faces," advises Tony Terry, a Churchill Downs spokesman, who adds: "When you're here, and it's shoulder to shoulder, and everyone's dressed as if it's the last day of their life, truly decked out, it's like going to a party."
The Derby was inaugurated in 1875 with a running distance of 1 1/2 miles. Two decades later, the field was reduced to 1 1/4 miles. The record time -- 1:59.2 by Secretariat in 1973 -- remains unbroken.
Riverboat cruising seems an appropriate complement to Derby tradition, recalling the stylish travel of a century ago, when thousands of riverboats plied the Mississippi's quaint ports and towns. These once-lavish boats resembled sugar-coated floating palaces; each tried to outdo the other with great chefs, renowned orchestras and elaborate furnishings.
