KY Fried History: Looking back on Lexington’s infamous Kentucky Derby Eve bash

This is the April 28 edition of Kentucky Fried History, a history focused newsletter that looks back through the archives of the Lexington Herald-Leader. You can sign-up to get this free newsletter delivered to your inbox every Monday.

At this time of year, putting on this extravaganza — which this year will attract 2,900 guests — is a full-time job for Anita Madden, and then some. Beverly Fortune, Lexington Herald-Leader, April 26, 1998.

When the Kentucky Derby rolls around, as it has for 150 years and will yet again in 2025 (assuming nothing cancels it abruptly this Saturday), it is a time of great acclaim across the commonwealth. Whether you’re watching the race at Churchill Downs or on TV from the comfort of your home, the “fastest two minutes in sports” brings a crowd year after year.

For people who opt to host their own Derby party, my colleague Janet Patton has several tips to make your event shine; however, not all Derby parties are created equal. You don’t have to look much further to prove this point than the famed Kentucky Derby party hosted by Lexington socialite Anita Madden.

Anita Madden, born Anita Cannon Myers, was a native of Ashland. In 1955 she married Preston Madden, son of J. Edward Madden Jr. and Winifred West Madden Morriss. Preston’s grandfather, John Edward Madden, was a renowned horseman who owned Hamburg Place Farm (today it’s better known as a local shopping center) in Lexington.

The farm produced six Derby winners and five members of the racing Hall of Fame, including America’s first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton, in 1919. Preston and Anita Madden bred one of the most famous: Alysheba, who won the 1987 Derby and Preakness.

Anita helped her husband continue the horse breeding success of his family’s farm. She also helped their son, Patrick Madden, in developing much of that 2,000-acre farm into present-day Hamburg Pavilion.

Her famed Derby parties were held for nearly 40 years with the last one in 1998. In a 1987 Associated Press story, appearing in the Miami Herald, Anita and Preston said the party started not long after the two married in the 1950s at the polo house and began to get really, really big in the 1980s.

This Derby bash wasn’t all about the glitz and glamour, although that was a major selling point. The party raised money for The Bluegrass Boys’ Ranch Scholars Program, now called Blue Grass Boys Ranch Inc., which primarily provides scholarships to students.

She told a Herald-Leader reporter as such in 1995: “The Bluegrass Boys’ Ranch needs the money, and Lexington needs the party. I’ve thought about that so often. ... We need to keep the Derby in Lexington so that people don’t think the Derby only means ‘Louisville.’”

The theme for her 1998 party was “Studio 89 — Happy Birthday Hamburg Place 1898-1998” and was a take on Studio 54, the popular New York night spot of the 1970s.

That year’s party included six paid employees and 16 volunteers involved in coordination and setup. Madden would personally draw up the seating chart for the nearly 3,000 people set to attend—and she knew most of them and knew exactly who would want to sit with whom.

Some of Madden’s Derby Eve bashes were, well, a bit sensual.

Topless mermaids lingered in swimming pools, streakers ran naked through the crowd and scantily clad male servers were seen, and presumably, appreciated by all who attended.

In the late 1970s, at the urging of Kentucky Supreme Court Justice Robert Stephens (a friend of Anita’s), the party was changed more to a benefit; first for the American Heart Association and then for the Bluegrass Boys’ Ranch.

Her parties and other philanthropic work also raised money for AIDS and heart disease research and other local nonprofit groups. The three-state Ohio River Valley Women’s Business Council honored Madden in 2012 with its first Woman of the Year Trailblazer Award.

Madden was one of the first women appointed to the Kentucky Racing Commission, where she served from 1980 to 1983. She also served 17 years on Lexington’s Planning Commission, beginning in 1977.

Anita Madden died at the age of 85 in 2018, yet people still remember the parties.

It’s not just Anita Madden’s Derby parties people remember, either. While Anita’s was definitely full of pomp, circumstance and celebrities, there was another big-name Lexington Derby gala worth mentioning.

For almost as many years as Anita Madden had her Derby Eve party, Marylou and C.V. “Sonny” Whitney had a party at their farm on Bryan Station Road.

The Whitney party was private for about 200 of their friends who dined and danced in the swimming pool atrium. The two celebrations were entirely different in tone and character. However, the Whitney party had its own connection to some celebrities.

C.V. Whitney had been involved in the motion picture industry, notably with his cousin Jock Whitney, as a major shareholder backing the Technicolor Corporation. The two were financiers for the 1939 classic “Gone With the Wind.”

The Whitney guests through the years included actors Rock Hudson, Gregory Peck, Esther Williams, Ginger Rogers, Clair Trevor, television personalities Kitty Carlisle-Hart and Arlene Francis, and Patrick Wayne, son of the late John Wayne.

Marylou wasn’t exactly a huge fan of having her party lumped in with Anita’s party, especially the year streakers attended. Even so, when Anita died in 2018, Marylou called her “a legend” and “one of the most generous people I’ve ever known” all the same.

The Whitney parties ended in 1994.

The end of the Madden, and Whitney, Derby parties closed a chapter of decadence in Lexington history that has yet to be replicated again in the 21st century and may never be quite frankly.

Will your Derby party be on the same level as these parties of olde? Probably not and that’s OK, but if it is then feel free to drop me a line.

This story was originally published May 2, 2025 at 12:00 PM with the headline "KY Fried History: Looking back on Lexington’s infamous Kentucky Derby Eve bash."

Andrew Henderson

Lexington Herald-Leader

Andrew is the deputy audience editor for McClatchy’s mid-sized and smaller newsrooms. His home newsroom is the Lexington Herald-Leader and he occasionally writes opinion columns for the paper. He was previously the editor of the Oldham Era and is a graduate of Western Kentucky University. Andrew is from Olive Hill in Carter County.