LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) --- Today's coffee comes from the Churchill Downs press room on Kentucky Oaks Day — a spectacle in its own right. With respect to the Breeders' Cup, which is the second-biggest day in American horse racing in terms of visibility, the Oaks is usually the second-biggest day in American racing in terms of attendance and spectacle.
The Preakness Stakes drew 46,999 last year. The Breeders Cup drew just more than 67,000 at Del Mar (though it drew better than 109,000 the year before at Santa Anita).
The Kentucky Oaks last year drew 107,236. The Oaks is a major deal in its own right. When Pat Forde handed off The Courier Journal's Kentucky Oaks "game column" to me, he joked: "Congratulations — you get to write the least-read story in the Saturday Derby preview section."
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It could feel that way. But then you had Rags to Riches and Rachel Alexandra and Blind Luck and Monomoy Girl and Thorpedo Anna. And you had great storylines like D. Wayne Lukas winning with Secret Oath.
The shuttle line at the Kentucky Fair and Exposition Center on Kentucky Oaks Day, 2025.
Things have changed. The Oaks has emerged as a legitimate headline day in American racing, not that it wasn't already. It's just getting more of the attention it deserves.
And as I parked way out beyond the Kentucky Kingdom rollercoasters to walk into the Fair & Exposition Center and wait in a 25-minute serpentine line to ride a school bus to the track, it felt like a big deal.
The reason for the early arrival was to attend the mandatory Kentucky Derby photographers meeting. I kind of like the spectacle of the meeting itself. The sheer number of shooters who attend.
The photographers' meeting is its own spectacle. And it reminds me of another one I used to cherish.
One of the great joys of covering the Kentucky Derby for me was that the best of the best of sportswriters would show up and you could measure yourself against the pure poetry they churned out from the old Churchill Downs press box. Red Smith. Jim Murray. I'm not going to start naming a bunch of people, because the list would be too long and would still leave people out. It was a who's who.
The day of those big-name national writers has passed. There are a few, but it's not the same as it was when newspapers ruled the world. Or at least the sports world.
Now, at this photographers meeting, you can still see some of the best in the country. The Derby remains a visual event, and the visuals remain important to the race. The major camera companies still set up in the press room to service equipment.
I just kind of like the whole spectacle. I like watching Keith Kleine try to explain procedures to 200 photographers without amplification while tractors drive by and music blaring over the speakers. This is when photographers set up their remote cameras on the inside rail or other places. (WDRB's Ariana Shchuka, who was a still photographer for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette before coming here, has set up the first-ever WDRB remote at the finish line. It's a learning experience for everybody.)
The media room at Churchill Downs on Kentucky Oaks Day, 2025.
Michael Clevenger, who for years has defined Derby coverage with his remote shots for The Courier Journal, remains the gold standard when it comes to remote work.
Anyway, as a writer for a TV station website, I'm not in the vanguard of people shooting the Kentucky Derby and I know that. Once the spots on the rail are marked, I go through and see if there's an empty one and I take it. My main goal with photography at the Derby is to stay out of the way. I'm not trying to break any rules. I'm just trying to get a few pictures for the website and show some of the color of the greatest sporting event in the city where I work.
Over the years, we've added more photographers at the station. Frank Stamper shoots stills. Shchuka is out shooting this year. Sam Draut has been out shooting all week. As the website adds shooters, I'll shoot a little less. It's not as much a necessity. And fresh eyes are good.
But having navigated the media/employee/vendor shuttle line that would make Walt Disney World proud, I'm here all day. Might as well get out and shoot a little something.
Happy Oaks Day!
Quick Sips
Derby scratch: This morning's Derby news was the scratching of the Todd Pletcher trained Grande by state veterinarians. His owner, Mike Repole, was not amused. Repole has had some horrible Derby luck, having had Uncle Mo, the Derby favorite, scratched the day before the race because of a gastrointestinal infection and Forte, the favorite, scratched because of a foot bruise on the morning of the Derby. Grande wasn't a favorite, like those, but he was 17-1. Read Repole's response here.
Basketball news: This should be fun. Kentucky and Purdue will meet in a men's basketball exhibition Oct. 24. Newly adopted NCAA rules permitting Division I programs to play in the preseason enabled the teams to add this early-season marquee contest to their schedules. The game will not count towards official records or statistics.
The Last Drop
"When you touch the dirt on the track you have the feeling, at that moment, that you are on the center stage of the universe."
- Steve Cauthen, jockey of 1978 Triple Crown winner Affirmed.
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