This year's Kentucky Derby Presented by Woodford Reserve (G1) will have a more familiar feel to it when the 148th edition takes place. That is, Churchill Downs will welcome back a capacity crowd for the first time since 2019.
The COVID-19 pandemic caused the 2020 event to shift to September, marking the first time since 1945 that the race was not held on the first Saturday in May. Last year the race was back to its traditional spot on the calendar, but was held with limited capacity.
"Based on advance reserved ticket sales, we expect to deliver record Derby results," Churchill Downs Inc. CEO Bill Carstanjen said on a call last week. The record for attendance is a crowd of 170,513, set in 2015 when American Pharoah took the Run for the Roses en route to a drought-ending Triple Crown victory.
Derby officials originally hoped to hold last year's race under normal conditions, but the cloud of uncertainty created by the omicron variant of COVID-19 kept the last edition from a true sense of normalcy, with only 23,000 fans permitted to attend.
Once every county in Kentucky was in the green—signifying low community levels of the virus—plans for a normal Derby for 2022 went into high gear.
The anticipation only grew as the track opened its season. Churchill Downs senior VP and general manager Mike Ziegler said the buzz in Louisville and the support shown by the city was "just awesome, foreboding of what's coming down this weekend."
He added, "It was such a challenge for everybody in the industry and really, in the city. I think we're all just thrilled to have a full grandstand and a full field and, hopefully, everybody has smiles on their faces to enjoy it again."
Having a packed house is one noticeable difference, but how that translates to the eye is another.
"Just for instance, you'll see that the temporary structure on the first turn wasn't here last year and that's a solid 3,500 seats that we didn't have last year. We don't have any capacity restrictions on the infield. The infield will be full capacity," Ziegler said. "If you recall last year, the box seats were checkerboarded and the unavailable boxes were covered with banners for sponsors and those are all off, so you know we had we had to reset a lot of boxes and clean a lot of chairs that didn't get used last year, and we're thrilled to be able to use them this year."
Along with fans and the sense of normalcy comes the return of sponsors for another year. Some are stalwarts like Woodford Reserve, in the midst of a five-year presenting sponsorship of the Kentucky Derby itself, while others are making their presence felt at the Derby for the first time.
"Our partners are so much of the lifeblood of the Derby and they're back happy and a lot of them entertain their customers here and there," Ziegler said. "Everybody's coming back in full force and there are some new partners that maybe would not have gotten without a full house."
Among those new to the event is BMW, which is the first brand named official luxury automotive partner of the Derby.
The automaker will have a large on-site footprint at Churchill Downs' main entrance that will include product display. Guests can preview the new BMW 7 Series and fully electric BMW i7 alongside a live flower wall that will showcase more than 7,000 roses and lilies. In addition to presenting the American Turf Stakes (G2T) on Derby Day, the company will also bring The Ultimate Macaron Bar Presented by BMW to the Taste of Derby.
