No horses at Churchill on Saturday? Hold onto your Derby hats, here come the turtles.
Old Forester is bringing back a racing tradition that the Bluegrass hasn’t seen since World War II: The Kentucky Turtle Derby.
That’s what they called it in 1945 when Churchill Downs was forced to postpone the Kentucky Derby. The track staged the race but with turtles.
Now, Old Forester bourbon is recreating “the slowest eight minutes in sports” on Saturday, which would have been the 146th running of the Kentucky Derby if not for the coronavirus pandemic shutdown.
With the Derby now postponed until Labor Weekend in September, Old Forester, which makes the Old Forester Mint Julep that people drink at the track, is hosting the 2020 Old Forester Kentucky Turtle Derby live on its YouTube channel at 7 p.m.
Eight turtles with names like “Seattle Slow” and “Green Mamba” will start in the center of a circle, and the first to cross the outer ring wins. Renowned Triple Crown horse racing announcer Larry Collmus will “call the race” remotely, and Steve Buttleman, the Churchill Downs bugler for 23 years, will play the call to the post.
Pre-race odds will be announced prior to the beginning of the race but you can’t really bet. Instead, Old Forester is encouraging people to donate to the Hospitality Industry Emergency Relief Fund, which helps out unemployed servers, bartenders and restaurant workers.
Brown-Forman, the parent company of Old Forester and Woodford Reserve (the title sponsor of the real Kentucky Derby) will match donations up to $100,000, according to the company.
This story was originally published April 30, 2020 at 11:21 AM.
