Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — On television, the Kentucky Derby comes across as a sporting event frozen in time, a tradition-laden tableau of teary-eyed renditions of “My Old Kentucky Home,” pretty women in frilly dresses and floppy hats and elderly men in fedoras sipping bourbon-laced beverages. Oh, yes, and fast, expensive racehorses.

As the shining beacon of a sport that has long been seen as in decline, the Derby’s customs and rich history are its strongest assets. And as weird as the post parade sing-along and premixed mint juleps may seem, they are part of its anachronistic charm.

But make no mistake, this year’s Run for the Roses is not your granddad’s Kentucky Derby. What was once a big horserace has become an industry unto itself.

The race itself has barely been tinkered with since the distance was shortened from 1½ miles to 1¼ miles in 1896. The only substantial change since then was a decision in the late 1970s to cap the number of starters at 20.

Steve Sexton, president of Churchill Downs Inc., owner of Churchill Downs racetrack and other tracks and racing-related properties, said the company charts a careful course when it comes to the history and traditions of the race.

“People come to the Derby because they want to drink a mint julep, they want to smell the roses, they want to sing ‘My Old Kentucky Home’ and they want to wear big hats,” he said.

But that reluctance to fiddle with the basic formula doesn’t extend to the trappings of the nation’s longest continuously run sporting event — 134 years and counting. The racetrack and the marketing of the event have undergone more than cosmetic surgery in an effort to keep the Run for the Roses relevant and profitable.

Some changes are obvious, such as the $121 million renovation of historic Churchill Downs that began in 2002 and resulted in the famed twin spires being submerged between what appear to be twin cruise ships docked atop the grandstand. The “ships” actually are new wings containing additional “millionaires’ row” seating, box seats and an expanded media center that replaced the decrepit but charming press box.

Others are invisible unless you peek beneath the hood. The publicly traded company that owns Churchill Downs, Churchill Downs Inc., has in recent years morphed into a gambling conglomerate focused on horse racing.  The company owns racetracks and simulcast wagering operations in Kentucky, Illinois, Florida and Louisiana and last year added “new entertainment options” — aka slot machines — at Fair Grounds racetrack in New Orleans to its portfolio. It also recently began operating online wagering service called twinspires.com that enables U.S. racing fans to bet from home or office on horse races from dozens of tracks each day.

At the same time it has been expanding, the company has systematically wrung more and more out of its golden goose: The Derby (the “Kentucky” is superfluous if you’re a Kentuckian or a racing fan). Thanks to ever expanding distribution of the race, wagering continues to show healthy growth — a record $175.13 million was bet on the Derby in 2006, before dipping slightly last year — and the track now offers a new advance wagering option in which handicappers can place bets months before the race.

Derby tickets remain coveted — and pricey —ducats.  Ticketsnow.com rated the Derby the 10th-hottest ticket price in the secondary market in 2007, with an average price of $817.06 for clubhouse seating. Tens of thousands more pay much less — $40 — for access to the infield, where they will be lucky to catch a glimpse of the horses speeding by on the track. Their presence has helped keep Derby day attendance above 150,000 for the last three years. Television ratings also have been up, thanks in part to the emergence of equine stars like Smarty Jones and the ill-fated Barbaro.

Churchill Downs also has planted what Sexton calls “seeds” of growth by trying to make the Derby appealing to a broader audience. Among those initiatives is the creation of the new post of “chief party officer” to oversee infield festivities on Derby day. Sexton acknowledged that the company has taken some criticism for what many consider a “corny idea,” but he said that the stunt helps “promote awareness” of the event among young people, college students.

The company also has focused on expanding awareness of the Derby as a destination for celebrities by creating a red carpet entrance and this year expanding NBC’s television coverage of the famous attendees.

And it has stepped up promotion of the Kentucky Oaks, the Derby equivalent for 3-year-old fillies run the day before the Derby. That event , marketed as “Louisville’s day at the races,” now routinely draws more than 100,000 fans to the track.

Brian Bohannon / ASSOCIATED PRESS Jenny McCarthy is shown at last year's Kentucky Derby.

More important to the bottom line, it has opened wide a new funding spigot by applying a corporate sheen to the event that has turned parts of Churchill Downs into the immovable equivalent of a NASCAR racecar, bedecked with emblems and logos for companies with no apparent connection to the sport of horse racing.

The poster child for this trend is the designation of the Derby itself as “The Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands,” an appellation attributable to a sponsorship agreement with the giant Louisville-based company, which includes Kentucky Fried Chicken, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and A&W in its stable of eateries.

Sexton said that Churchill Downs sees plenty of room to increase corporate sponsorship, and to that end has invited a number of “high-level corporate decision makers” to attend this year’s Derby in hopes of getting them to sign on.

“The more a corporate sponsor understands about the event the more likely they are to get involved,” he said.

Churchill Downs also has added luxury suites and meeting areas to its clubhouse, as well as built new “trophy suites” in the infield and on the first turn. And for the Derby, each year the company creates a corporate “Marquee Village” of 52 tents in its parking lot that host corporate events during Derby week, even though those attending may never witness a live race.

Sexton said that increasing corporate events at the racetrack is an important part of the company’s effort to develop new racing fans.

“We put a big emphasis on group sales, because most people are introduced to racing through family members, corporate events or civic clubs,” he said.

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