Kentucky Trivia ● Kentucky Tweets

May 7, 1775, Daniel Boone traveled into the woods trying to find a stray horse.  He camped all night and upon his return he found Captain Harrod and Colonel Slaughter from Harrodstown on the Salt River.  The men were of great mood.  History of Kentucky by Zachariah Frederick Smith

When the 1^st census was taken in Kentucky on May 7, 1777, and another on September 2, 1777, at Harrodsburg, it gave 65 children under ten, 24 women, and 198 total. Boonesborough was then nearly as large, and there were families at McClelland’s (Georgetown), Logan’s (near Stanford), and several other stations.

May 7, 1840, a small steamboat capsized and nine people drown in the Green River.

May 7, 1861, Maysville native William “Bull” Nelson visited Louisville native Joshua Fry Speed for a secret mission to supply arms for the Union cause in Kentucky.  President Lincoln organized the meeting.

May 7, 1867, W.L. Grinnan and D.B. Ridgly, both of Harrison County, met on the field of honor near Cynthiana at 6:30 a.m. “one round fired and nobody hurt.”  Famous Kentucky Duels by J. Winston Coleman, Jr.; pg: 146

Localtonians wish a Happy Anniversary to Albert and Emma Fall, who wed in 1883.  Albert, a Frankfort native became the 28^th U.S. Secretary of the Interior.  The couple had four children, two of which died days apart during the Spanish Flu.

May 7, 1910, Layminister won the 35^th Preakness Stakes going one mile.  The 36^th Derby ran three days later.

May 7, 1911, Night Policeman John Austin Robey, Lebanon Police Department, died after being stabbed 19 times by two men.  One held him while the other stabbed.

On May 7, 1921, Behave Yourself won the 47^th Kentucky Derby in 2:02.40 and earned $38,450.  The duo of owner Colonel Edward R. Bradley and trainer Herbert J. Thompson won for their 1^st of four Derbies together.  Jockey Charles Thompson won by a head over the favorite and stablemate Black Servant.

Localtonians wish a Happy Birthday to Loyall native Jerry Donald Chesnut, born in 1931 in Harlan County.  His hits include “Good Year for the Roses” (recorded by Alan Jackson, George Jones, and Elvis Costello) and “T-R-O-U-B-L-E” (recorded by Elvis Presley in 1975, and Travis Tritt in 1992.)

May 7, 1931, Harland Sanders put two bullets in Matt Stewart, a service station manager in Corbin, while Matt was painting his station’s company sign.  A Shell Oil executive lay dead nearby.

May 7, 1932, Burgoo King won the 58^th Kentucky Derby for Col. E.R. Bradley’s Idle Hour Stock Farm, leader for all-time Derby starters at 28.  Col. Bradley and trainer, Herbert Thompson, won their 3^rd Derby as a team.  Bradley’s 1926 Derby winner Bubbling Over sired Burgoo King.  Bradley named Burgoo King for James T. Looney, who popularized the Kentucky-created stew known as burgoo.  The winning time of 2:05.20 earned $52,350.

Time magazine’s May 7, 1934, issue featured Edward R. Bradley on its front cover.  In 1898, Bradley purchased his 1^st racehorse.  Then, in 1906, he bought Ash Grove Stock Farm, a 400-acre property near Lexington, and renamed Idle Hour Stock Farm.  The farm became the leading Thoroughbred breeding operation in the American South and added greatly to the rise of Kentucky’s prominence in horse racing and breeding and the Kentucky Derby as the country’s premier race.

Friday, May 7, 1937, V.P. John N. Gardner and a group of Senators left Washington, D.C., via train to attend the Saturday Kentucky Derby.  The V.I.P. group were guests of Senator Guffey (D-PA), who hosted an annual Derby Soiree.

May 7, 1938, Lawrin won the 64^th Kentucky Derby for Herbert M. Woolf, who bred the colt in Kansas.  Mr. Woolf’s Woolford Farm is the official owner.  The colt went in 2:04 4/5 to win $47,050.  The team of Ben Jones and Eddie Arcaro hook up for the 1^st of four times Derby wins.

May 7, 1945, the war against Germany, the greatest war in world history, ended with the unconditional surrender of the once-mighty Wehrmacht.

On May 7, 1949, Ponder won the 75^th Kentucky Derby for Warren Wright’s Calumet Farm.  Mr. Wright’s homebred won $91,600 and gave the farm their 4^th Derby victory.  The U.S. Racing Hall of Fame jockey, Steve Brooks, gets his only Derby win in a time of 2:04 1/5.  Ben A. Jones won for the 5^th time, getting one more in 1952.

May 7, 1951, Air Force 1LT John S. Collins from Louisville died in the Korean War.

May 7, 1955, Swaps won the 81^st Kentucky Derby for owner Rex C. Ellsworth, trainer Mesh Tenney, and Bill Shoemaker, who got his 1^st Derby win of four.  The winning time earned $108,400.  Rex was the leading breeder in the U.S. twice but would have a remarkable fall from grace when authorities found more than 100 horses near-starvation, along with five dead ones, on his California farm.

On May 7, 1957, Churchill Downs’s President Bill Corum announced a red disc would be hung over the finish line before next year’s Derby to eliminate any confusion that Willie shoemaker had in the Derby four days prior.  Shoemaker received a 15-day suspension for his miscalculation.  Meanwhile, the government announced a one-cent hike for a 1st class postage stamp from three to four cents.

May 7, 1960, Venetian Way, with Bill Hartack up, won the 86^th Kentucky Derby in 2:02 2/5 on a good track to win $114,850.  Bill earned his 2^nd Derby win out of five.  Owner Isaac Blumberg named Venetian Way for a street in Miami.  Victor J. Sovinski trained his one Kentucky Derby winner.

May 7, 1963, the citizens of Lynch in Harlan County, incorporated their community.

On May 7, 1966, Kauai King won the 92^nd Kentucky Derby for Ford Stable in 2:02.  It would be Nicholasville native and Hall of Fame jockey Don Brumfield’s only Derby win.  In addition, Trainer Henry Forrest enjoyed his 1^st of two Derby wins.  The winning connections divide $120,500.

May 7, 1968, Army SGT Roger D. Cauley from Owensboro died in the Vietnam War.

May 7, 1969, Marine Corps PFC Donald R. Haywood from Blue River in Floyd County died in the Vietnam War.

On May 7, 1970, police arrested a dozen UK students, including student president Steve Bright as 20 State Police and 12 National Guardsmen moved in to disperse a crowd of students gathered at UK’s student center.  They charged the students with “generally exciting trouble” or disorderly conduct while protesting the Vietnam War.

May 7, 1974, the $8 million Camp Nelson Bridge over the Kentucky River between Jessamine and Garrard Counties opened to traffic.  The bridge is 1,100 feet long.

May 7, 1977, Seattle Slew won the 103^rd Kentucky Derby for Karen L. Taylor, jockey Jean Cruguet, and trainer William H. Turner Jr.  Seattle Slew was America’s 10^th Triple Crown winner.

On May 7, 1980, a Kentucky lawyer claimed that the state’s Sunday Closing Law was vague, ambiguous, unfair, and unenforceable.  He made the claims on behalf of retail stores Mr. Wiggs and CSC.  He also represented a small garden shop that wanted to take it to the state’s Supreme Court.

On May 7, 1983, ex-presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter watched Sunny’s Halo win the 109^th Kentucky Derby.  President Ford attended 13 times, more than any other President, while President Carter enjoyed his only visit.  Canadian trainer David C. Cross Jr. and owner D.J. Foster Racing Stable captured their only Derby.  Jockey Eddie Delahoussaye won his 1^st of two in a row.  The winning time of 2:02 1/5 earned the Canadian bred $426,000.

May 7, 1985, UK’s board of trustees rejected a measure that would have prohibited discrimination against gay men and women in admission and financial aid.

May 7, 1988, the filly Winning Colors won the 114^th Kentucky Derby for Eugene V. Klein.  Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won his 1^st of four Derbies.  Jockey Gary Stevens won his 1^st of three.  The winning time of 2:02.20 earned $611,200.

May 7, 1988, Detective Alton P. Embry, Jr., Louisville Police Department, died when the unmarked police vehicle he was a passenger in crashed on Interstate I-64.

On May 7, 1990, while the 1^st Lady, Martha Wilkinson declared her candidacy to replace her husband as governor, federal officials stated the Commonwealth ranked #7 for states who exported toxic waste with 32.8 million pounds.  We also accepted 31.7 pounds of garbage.

May 7, 1994, Go for Gin won the 120^th Kentucky Derby in 2:02.73 on a sloppy track for W.J. Condren & J.M. Cornacchia.  Jockey Chris McCarron and trainer Nick Zito each won their 2^nd and last Derbies.  The winning connections earned $628,800.

On May 7, 1998, fans of the television show Seinfeld showed up in full force for Lexington’s look-alike contest at Fayette Mall.  Seventy-five people entered the competition celebrating the popular show’s finale, which aired a week later.  Unfortunately, only one George showed up.

May 7, 2005, Navy Hospital Corpsman Jeffery L. Wiener 32, of Louisville died fighting in Operation Iraqi Freedom.

On May 7, 2005, Giacomo won the 131^st Kentucky Derby at odds of 50-1 for owners Jerry and Ann Moss.  Jockey Mike E. Smith won his 1^st of two Derbies, and trainer John A. Shirreffs won his only one to date.  The winning time of 2:02.75 earned $1,639,600.  The Moss family named Giacomo after Sting’s youngest son.

May 7, 2008, Army CPL Jeremy R. Gullett, 22, of Greenup, died in Afghanistan from a bomb fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

May 7, 2011, Animal Kingdom won the 137^th Kentucky Derby for Team Valor Stable in 2:02.04 to win $1,411,800.  John Velazquez and H. Graham Motion completed the winning connections.  It was only his 5^th race, the last horse to win the Derby after racing just four times was Exterminator in 1918.

Kentucky Trivia:  On Derby Day the infield will hold around 80,000 revelers, making it Kentucky’s 3^rd-largest “city,” behind Louisville (621,000), Lexington (320,000).  Bowling Green’s population is around 77,000.

May 7, 2012, Army PFC Dustin D. Gross, 19, of Jeffersonville, died in Afghanistan while fighting in Operation Enduring Freedom.

On May 7, 2012, a 60-year-old Georgetown man received 25 years in prison for killing a 22-year-old star athlete and manager at Habitat for Humanity while drinking and driving.  The man expressed remorse in a brief statement.  In a sad irony, the young man often acted as his friends’ designated driver.

May 7, 2016, Nyquist won the 142^nd Kentucky Derby in 2:01.31 to earn $1,631,400.  This was the 2^nd Derby win for the connections of owner J. Paul Reddam, trainer Doug O’Neill and jockey Mario Gutierrez.  The team’s 1st win came with I’ll Have Another in 2012.

On May 7, 2020, Governor A. Beshear announced that Kentucky restaurants could open back up at 33% capacity on May 22.  Movie theaters and fitness centers will reopen on June 1, campgrounds on June 11, child care services, and outdoor youth sports on June 15.  Meanwhile officials released a man after serving 20 years but told him to return for two weeks after being free for 24 hours because he tested positive on his last day.  It seemed the absurdity would never stop.

May 7, 2021, as Kentucky’s economy picked up steam, the state announced that citizens collecting unemployment benefits must prove they looked for work.  The U.S., including Kentucky, would soon face a worker shortage.  Meanwhile, the CDC announced Nancy Messonnier, who had led CDC’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic, resigned in disgust over CDC’s corporate capture.

On May 7, 2022, Rich Strike, who had only entered the race after a late scratch, won the 148^th Kentucky Derby.  Entering the race at odds of 80–1, his victory was the 2^nd largest upset in Derby history.  It was the 1^st Kentucky Derby victory for his trainer Eric Reed, and the 1^st graded stakes win for his jockey Sonny Leon.  The colt went in 2:02.61 and earned the connections $1,860,000.  The superfecta paid $321,500.10.