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Kentucky Derby Museum
The
Kentucky Derby Museum is the official American thoroughbred horse
racing museum that is found on the grounds of Churchill Downs in
Louisville, Kentucky that opened its doors in 1985, to preserve and
showcase the history of the Kentucky Derby with a magnanimous
donation from James Graham Brown. The museum has two floors of
exhibits as well as a 360 degree theater that shows a HD video, The
Greatest Race, and using films and displays will take the visitor on
a journey following a young foal as it grows, is trained and
eventually will end up in the winner's circle at the Kentucky Derby.
Each winner is honored in the Warner L. Jones Time Machine where
guests can view any of the Kentucky Derbies since 1918 all the way
up to the current time. There are displays that feature the stories
of the trainers, jockeys and owners, as well as the significance of
African American jockeys and trainers in the race and the entire
thoroughbred business. There are guided tours of the infield areas
of Churchill Downs and the barns, millionaires row, press box, and
jockey quarters. In 2009, the museum was severely damaged by a
flood, so that it had to be closed down for repairs and cleaning
with almost every display located on the first floor being affected
by water damage, with numerous ones being totally destroyed, so the
directors decided that it was the perfect time to rejuvenate the
museum and it was reopened this spring. The museum has been trying
to locate the whereabouts of all the trophies from the derby, and by
2007, it still had ten more to find, with eight of them being
designed in the 1924 style and two from the 1922 design.
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