Fans flock to first KY Derby Week Sunday Funday races in over a decade

Sunday racing during Kentucky Derby Week returned on April 26, drawing both Derby regulars and newcomers. Organizers dubbed the event “Sunday Funday,” marking the first time horse racing had been held at Churchill Downs Racetrack on a Sunday during Derby Week since 2010. With gates opening at 11:30 a.

m. and the first race post time at 12:45 p. m.

, it seemed some staffers and attendees came straight to the racetrack from church. “Some of us have to go to church and get blessed before we come,” said a woman dressed in her Sunday finest by the Paddock Gate, with 10 minutes to go before the gates opened for the day. “Some of us stay blessed,” another worker responded.

Billy and April Bensing were among those who took in the day’s racing from the Stakes Room & Balcony. Speaking outside the Paddock Gate, the Shively couple — dressed in bright fluorescent orange and pink — said they typically attend 502’sDay , the Tuesday of Derby Week, each year with family and friends, largely because the crowds are thinner. But when they heard Churchill Downs was adding a seventh day of racing to the eight-day Kentucky Derby schedule, they jumped at the chance to come for a second day without the kids.