The Kentucky Derby: How the Run for the Roses Became America’s Premier Sporting Event

Chapter 6. Globalization and the American Dream: 1980-2010

6 Globalization and the American Dream 1980–2010 The first half of the 1980s were extraordinary times in Kentucky : the Bluegrass State experienced unprecedented growth in the horse industry, a high-profile couple occupied the governor’s mansion, and opulence and excess characterized the state’s elite circles. The national profile of the Kentucky Derby continued to rise, the beneficiary of the glamour that was increasingly connected with the state and its horse industry during these boom times in the Bluegrass. By the turn of the century the Derby would be an annual goal for horse owners around the world in an increasingly global Thoroughbred industry. American media focused on tales of redemption and unlikely heroes at the Derby, again proving that the malleable identities of Kentucky and its Derby could adapt to—and affirm—the ever-changing notion of “American values.” For Kentucky the Big ’80s began a month early, with the inauguration of Governor John Y. Brown Jr., in December 1979. Brown and his new wife, former Miss America and television personality Phyllis George, immediately raised Kentucky’s national profile by virtue of their many prominent social and professional connections. Brown had purchased Kentucky Fried Chicken from Colonel Sanders in 1964 and had been involved  177 The Kentucky Derby 178 in ownership groups of various professional sports franchises, including the Boston Celtics. During Brown’s tenure in office, he and George entertained scores of celebrities at the Kentucky Derby and Derby-related functions, adding some additional Hollywood-style panache to the event in an era of excess and materialism. Two of the Browns’ most famous guests were Muhammad Ali and Colonel Harland Sanders, two of the most recognized figures on the planet in the early 1980s, and both with strong Kentucky ties. The Indiana-born Sanders began selling his famous chicken in the 1930s and was soon granted an honorary colonelship by Kentucky governor Ruby Laffoon in acknowledgment of Sanders ’s culinary contributions to the Commonwealth. In 1952 the first Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise opened in Salt Lake City. Today KFC’s corporate offices in Louisville are located in a giant antebellum-style mansion, and Colonel Sanders’s visage adorns over eleven thousand Kentucky Fried Chicken stores in more than eighty countries around the globe. When Brown and his partners purchased Kentucky Fried Chicken from Sanders, the colonel was retained as a spokesman for the company and became the face of an international fast-food empire. After Sanders ’s death at the age of ninety, Brown called the colonel “the best salesman we ever had” at the pre-Derby Kentucky Colonels’ Dinner in 1981.1 Whether Brown’s use of the word “we” referred to Kentucky Fried Chicken, the Honorable Order of Kentucky Colonels, or the state of Kentucky, his statement was probably correct. In 1980 Louisville native Muhammad Ali attended the Derby as the guest of the Browns months before he lost the world heavyweight boxing title for the final time. “I’m bigger than the whole Derby,” Ali dryly told reporters.2 The “Louisville Lip’s” connection to Kentucky added to the state’s global fame, and his frequent presence at the Derby was a treat for celebrity spotters, adding both levity and gravity to the festival atmosphere. In addi- Globalization and the American Dream 179 tion to Ali and Sanders, other guests of the Browns at the Derby included Kenny Rogers, Barbara Walters, Waylon Jennings, and Walter Cronkite. In a culture that celebrated stardom, the Kentucky Derby held its place as an A-list event in the 1980s. Racing had attracted wealthy people and high society for centuries. But in the 1980s most of the celebrities who attended the Derby would not visit another race track all year, unlike in decades past, when racing had a much larger place in American society. Part of the Derby’s appeal for decades had been that it provided the middle classes an opportunity to experience the “good life” while giving high society a chance to get close—but not too close—to the hedonistic behavior of the masses. In decades past, newspapers had published lists of society members who attended the Derby, including information on what fashion the women wore, seat location, and local hosts. But by the 1980s, American popular culture was much more focused upon actors, musicians, and athletes than faceless aristocrats. Society swells still showed up...