P is for pedigree. Many students of bloodlines believe that horses without proper dosage (a calculation of various factors in a pedigree) can’t win the Derby. Whoops, that didn't work this year, because Giacomo, the winner, did not comply with the proper dosage guidelines.

Q is for qualify. Only 20 horses will qualify for the starting gate. The 20-horse limit was established in 1975, following the 100^th running, and graded stakes earnings are used to determine who’s in and who’s out.

R is for Roses. Tradition has the Kentucky Derby winner blanketed with roses, and so in 1925, New York sportswriter Bill Corum coined the race “The Run for The Roses.”  About 560 “Classy” tea-roses adorn the garland. The number varies because a crown, made up of a rose for each horse in the race, is sewn into the center.

S is for Secretariat. The 1973 winner’s record time of 1:59 2/5 still stands. Secretariat won the 99^th Kentucky Derby picking up speed as the race wore on, running each quarter mile faster than the one before, an astonishing feat that hasn’t been matched.

T is for twin spires. Renovation of Churchill Downs has caused the twin spires to be hidden between towering buildings, but their sight still stirs the soul. Built in 1894, they have become an icon for racing in Kentucky.

U is for upset. Only two favorites in the past 24 years have been victorious. The biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history was by Donerail in 1913. Donerail was bred, owned and trained by T.P. Hayes, and ridden by Roscoe Goose. He paid $184.90 and set a new track record of 2:04 4/5 in winning. Giacomo was the second-biggest at $102.60.

V is for Visa Triple Crown. In its 12^th year of sponsorship, the credit card company is offering a $5 million bonus to any horse that sweeps the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. A scant 11 Kentucky Derby winners have won all three races of the coveted series, and none since Affirmed in 1978.

W is for “Weep no more, my lady…” When the chorus of Stephen C. Foster’s “My Old Kentucky Home” is sung as the horses walk on to the track, there’s not a dry eye in the stands or on horseback. The tradition of playing the Kentucky state song began in 1921 with the 47^th Derby, the same year that roses replaced carnations in the winner’s blanket.

X and Y are for X and Y chromosomes. The Kentucky Derby is an equal opportunity race, but only three fillies have been successful in winning it. This year, the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies winner, Sweet Catomine, had been expected to challenge the boys, but she was instead retired and bred after coming up short in the Santa Anita Derby.

Z is for Zast. Last in the alphabet, but first at the betting windows. Do something often enough and you begin to get the hang of it. Attendance at 20 Kentucky Derbies, beginning with the one won by Majestic Prince in 1969, is part of this lexicographer’s legacy.

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