LOUISVILLE — Saturday’s 140th running of the Kentucky Derby was wrapped in tradition and filled with jubilation for those celebrating winners and plenty of disappointment for those who came with big dreams.

It’s called the most exciting two minutes in sports, but the Run for the Roses is more than that. The Derby is actually much more than that. 

It’s an event that Kentucky calls its own, an event Kentucky boasts about, an event to experience at least once in a lifetime.

Awake with the horses

The morning of the Kentucky Derby is like a secret.

Before patrons storm the entrances, Churchill Downs rises well before the sun.

Saturday’s orange glow creeps over every inch of the field as riders mount their horses for an exercise run on a fresh, moist track. The rhythmic clip-clop, the snorts of horses, the rakes of gravel in the stables by hired hands – those are the only sounds in massive Churchill Downs – sounds soon to be silenced.

It is the calm before the storm, but a storm that is welcomed.

“It’s the excitement,” said David A. Fortner, a Cincinnati native wiping down a saddle outside of barn 10A before watching his 22nd straight Derby. “All the lights are on now, it’s almost like Monday Night Football. It’s really nice and really fun. It’s really good for the industry this time of year.”

There’s an air of duty on what they call the backside of the track. A seemingly endless row of barns and stables is filled with competitors, both two and four-legged.

At Barn 20, California Chrome, the day’s favorite, waits in a dark stall – No. 15 – shaded by a row of trees a little more than 10 hours before post time.

The other Derby patrons

Churchill Downs’ centerpiece, by layout, is its infield.

While any reference to the historic racing grounds draws the mind to images of hats and mint juleps and the walking about of the wealthy, the infield is its own ecosystem of fans, held captive by the rails of the oval track while those in the grandstand look down upon it from a distance.

The mention of the word “infield” on this day conjures thoughts closer to a bit of disgust, a hint of delight and a chance for debauchery and deviousness at the Derby.

Dave Humes, a 55-year-old from Moline, Ill., wears white sneakers, red and white striped socks, jean shorts and a jean jacket. The jacket is stitched on the back with gold letters that read,”Mayor of the Infield.”

Saturday was his 36th Kentucky Derby.

“It went from self-appointed to now, it’s mom-approved,” Humes said of his title. “I was probably nine or 10 years into it before I proclaimed myself ‘Mayor of the Infield.’ I just try and keep the peace.”

The smells on the infield reek of the county fair. The sounds range from the songs of pop radio to the shrills of the heavily inebriated, and the sights are gaudy and unique.

This, too, is the Kentucky Derby.

Arrival of the moment

It’s termed “Call to the Post,” a short and blaring song played via the bugle, played by Steve Buttleman. 

Perhaps no song in sport holds more weight and freezes such a large audience with the trepidation of what is to come.

That moment occurs an hour after the stillness and serenity of the national anthem, belted out this year by country music singer Jo Dee Messina. The famous playing and singing along to “My Old Kentucky Home,” a tune that captivates the Derby crowd comes next, denoting 15 minutes remain until what fans all came to see.

Amid all this, the horses and riders work seemingly oblivious to it all, finagling their way into their respective stalls inside the starting gate.

By the time the masses realize the time has come, the pack has already exploded onto the scene.

Decorated by roses

The roar of a Derby crowd as the 19 horses turn for the backstretch ranges somewhere between jet airplane and tidal wave.

All are cheering for various reasons. Some are in line to win unfathomable riches, while others will lose just as much.

When California Chrome crossed the finish line Saturday, becoming the 140th winner of the Kentucky Derby, the roars and murmurs immediately began to fade in syncopation as the California-bred horse came to a slow trot. And while the 164,906 fans arrived at different intervals throughout the day to eventually fill every nook and cranny of Churchill Downs, almost all of that giant number turn and make for the exits at the same time.

Not more than 60 minutes after Caliornia Chrome had a bed of roses draped around his victorious neck, Churchill Downs returned to a state of calm and quiet – and that’s where it will relatively remain until race 141.